EPFO Update: EPFO, which handles the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) of employees, has taken many such decisions in the last few days which will make the life of EPF subscribers and EPS pensioners easier. EPFO has approved withdrawal of pension from any branch of any bank in the country from January 1, 2025, which will benefit the pensioners, while EPFO has increased the auto claim limit for advance claim.
Pensioners will be able to withdraw pension anywhere
The Ministry of Labor said that after the formation of the government at the Center for the third consecutive time under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, EPFO has taken many such decisions which will provide relief to EPF account holders and EPS pensioners. On September 4, 2024, the Central Board of Trustees of EPFO approved the proposal of Centralized Pension Payment System, which will be launched on January 1, 2025. After the launch of the Centralized Pension Payment System, 77 lakh pensioners of EPFO will be able to withdraw pension from any branch of any bank across the country. This facility of EPFO will benefit the most to those people who shift to their hometown after retirement.
Advance claim limit increased to Rs 1 lakh
EPFO has also increased the limit of auto claim for partial withdrawal i.e. advance claim for EPF account holders. This limit has been increased from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. This facility has been extended for EPF subscribers in case of illness apart from housing, education, marriage. EPFO said that the settlement period of partial withdrawal, which has a 60 percent share in total claims, has now come down from 10 days to 3-4 days. 7.5 crore EPF account holders will benefit from the increase in auto claim limit.
Exemption from uploading check leaf or bank passbook copy
EPFO has given a big relief to its crores of subscribers by changing the rules of claim. EPFO has abolished the requirement of uploading the image of cancelled cheque or bank passbook for EPF claim settlement. If a subscriber fulfills all the conditions of validation, then in such a situation he will not need to upload the cheque book or bank passbook for claim settlement. This will speed up online claim settlement and promote ease of living. EPFO used to reject about 10 percent of claims due to not uploading the image of the cheque leaf or attested bank passbook copy.
Withdrawal rules made easy
EPFO has made the rules for short-term withdrawal easier by amending its Table B and Table D in the Family Pension Scheme. Under this rule, those EPF members who contribute to EPFO for a period of less than 6 months will also get the withdrawal benefit. This will benefit 7 lakh EPS subscribers who leave the scheme before contributing for a period of less than six months. 23 lakh members will benefit from the amendment in Table D.
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