Come April, and over 8 crore contributing members of the retirement fund body Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will be able to withdraw their funds using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) via the BHIM app. The new facility will show members their available balance, which will be segregated to show the eligible balance for withdrawal and the minimum 25% balance separately, with internal discussions converging towards capping the initial withdrawal at Rs 25,000 per transaction, a senior government official told The Indian Express.

“Work is going on for the development of the entire system. Three parties are involved in the development of the system — EPFO, C-DAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing), and the NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) and there is also involvement of the State Bank of India for payment coordination. The withdrawals would be facilitated through the BHIM app initially, which will credit the amount to the UPI-linked bank account directly,” the official said.

Every EPFO member will be able to avail the UPI facility through the BHIM app, with the existing guardrails for UPI transactions to apply as it is. The facility is especially expected to help blue-collared workers in the EPFO ambit who may not otherwise be able to avail the withdrawal process through the online portal. “Initially, a cap of Rs 25,000 per transaction has been proposed as anything instantaneous is prone to misuse. The users will also need to be careful with withdrawals with respect to the permissible frequency of withdrawals. Even though we are giving good flexibility now for withdrawals, the frequency has been defined for the three categories in a year. If a member withdraws the amount very quickly in 2-3 transactions, and though he/she may not have availed the full limit in amount terms, the eligible frequency may get exhausted,” the official said.

The facility would have seen light of the day earlier than this but the notification of Labour Codes in November and the easing of withdrawal norms in October had to be factored in during the software development phase of the proposed UPI facility, the official explained. “The withdrawal rules were changed, so the 75% and 25% balance bit and the changes in Social Security Code had to be all dovetailed into this. The work is now in final stages, and should be available before April,” the official said.

The proposed rollout of the new facility comes after the EPFO announced liberalising of its withdrawal norms after its Board meeting in October last year, streamlining the withdrawal categories from 13 to three — essential needs (illness, education, marriage); housing needs; and special circumstances.

It, however, introduced two other significant changes regarding minimum balance and premature final settlement in cases such as withdrawal at the time of unemployment. The members can withdraw 75% of their corpus and would be required to earmark 25% of the contributions in their accounts as the minimum balance at all times.

Withdrawal limits for education or illness were made more flexible: partial drawals can now be made 10 times for education during the membership and 5 for marriage, as against the existing limit of 3 partial withdrawals for marriage and education combined. Under illness and ‘special circumstances’ categories, withdrawals will be allowed 3 times and 2 times every financial year.

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One of the decisions to extend the minimum period for availing premature final settlement during unemployment from the existing two months to 12 months came under fire from Opposition leaders. The Ministry of Labour and Employment had then clarified that 75% of a member’s amount can be withdrawn immediately after leaving the job, in line with the 75% withdrawal allowed for other three part withdrawal categories, and the full 100% amount can be withdrawn after remaining unemployed for one year. This essentially implies that changes in the minimum period for premature final settlement, only affect 25% of the PF contribution — minimum balance requirement — while 75% can be withdrawn at all times.

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Aanchal Magazine is a Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, serving as a leading voice on the macroeconomy and fiscal policy. With over 13 years of newsroom experience, she is recognized for her ability to decode complex economic data and government policy for a wider audience.
Expertise & Focus Areas: Magazine’s reporting is rooted in “fiscal arithmetic” and economic science. Her work provides critical insights into the financial health of the nation, focusing on:



Macroeconomic Policy: Detailed tracking of GDP growth, inflation trends, and central bank policy actions.


Fiscal Metrics: Analysis of taxation, revenue collection, and government spending.


Labour & Society: Reporting on labour trends and the intersection of economic policy with employment.


Her expertise lies in interpreting high-frequency economic indicators to explain the broader trajectory of the Indian economy.
Personal Interests: Beyond the world of finance and statistics, Aanchal maintains a deep personal interest in the history of her homeland, Kashmir. In her spare time, she reads extensively about the region’s culture and traditions and works to map the complex journeys of displacement associated with it.
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