You can withdraw your EPFO corpus via UPI from April
What's the story
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is gearing up to launch a new mobile app by March-end or April. The app will allow subscribers to withdraw their provident fund money through Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The upcoming EPFO app will be different from the existing UMANG app and will be directly linked with the subscriber's bank account.
App features
Integration with BHIM and other UPI apps
The new EPFO app will be integrated with the BHIM app and other UPI apps. This integration will enable subscribers to transfer funds from their EPFO accounts to their respective bank accounts. Once the money is in their bank accounts, they can withdraw it using UPI, an official told Moneycontrol.
Process change
Currently, EPF withdrawals can be done via UAN portal/UMANG app
At present, EPFO withdrawals can only be done online through the UAN portal or the UMANG app. However, this new app will change the game by allowing UPI-based withdrawals. The official said subscribers will be able to withdraw up to 75% of their EPFO balance in their bank accounts with this new system.
Withdrawal guidelines
What does the law say?
According to existing rules, at least 25% of the EPF balance has to be retained in the subscriber's account. This means the members can now withdraw up to 75% of their EPF corpus while keeping the mandatory minimum balance. In case of job loss, the remaining 25% can only be withdrawn after a year. The total corpus of EPFO is nearly ₹26 lakh crore with around 7.5 crore active subscribers or contributing members.