EPFO, an organization managing the retirement fund, has given major facilities to its subscribers. Now employees associated with EPFO will soon be able to withdraw their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account in other ways like ATM or UPI. Its limit has been increased to Rs 5 lakh. However, for this they have to link their bank accounts to EPF.
What is the government’s plan
According to sources in the news agency PTI, the Labor Ministry is working on a project in which a certain part of the EPF will be stopped and a large part can be removed in many ways such as the UPI or ATM debit card. The source also said that there are some software challenges in implementing this system, which are being removed. Currently, members of the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) have to apply online for their EPF withdrawal claim, which takes time.
Started in Kovid period
In fact, in the Kovid period, auto settlement facility was started for advance claims up to Rs 1 lakh, which has now been increased to Rs 5 lakh. This will benefit millions of shareholders. EPFO with more than seven crore members had first introduced an online auto-settlement system with the aim of providing quick assistance to employees facing financial difficulties during Kovid’s time. Since then, advance claims for illness, education, marriage and housing were also brought under this facility. This means that any such need can be claimed.
2.34 crore settlement in 2024-25
In FY 2024-25, EPFO settled a record 2.34 crore advance claims through auto-settlement. This is 161 percent more than the 89.52 lakh claims dealt with in FY 2013-14. In the last financial year, 59 per cent of all advance claims were disposed of through the auto-settlement system, while the figure was 31 per cent in FY 2023-24.
