You can withdraw your PF via ATM from January 2026
What's the story
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is likely to introduce an ATM withdrawal facility for its subscribers from January 2026. The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the apex decision-making body of the EPFO, is expected to approve this new feature in its upcoming board meeting scheduled for the second week of October.
Infrastructure readiness
Withdrawal limit to be decided later
A CBT member confirmed to Moneycontrol that the EPFO's IT infrastructure is ready to support such transactions. However, they also noted that there would be a withdrawal limit from ATMs, which still needs to be discussed further. Currently, the total corpus of EPFO is over ₹28 lakh crore with around 78 million contributing members.
Enhanced accessibility
Special card for members likely to be issued
A senior official from the labor ministry said that the ATM facility is seen as a necessity to give more access to EPFO members. The ministry has already spoken with banks and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) about rolling out this feature. It is likely that EPFO will issue a special card for its members, enabling them to withdraw a part of their corpus from ATMs.
Recent changes
Automated claim settlement increase earlier this year
Earlier this year, the EPFO had increased the automatic claim settlement amount from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh. This move was aimed at making it easier for subscribers to access their funds. The automated process uses a set of digital checks and algorithms to verify a claim's eligibility instead of having it manually reviewed by an EPFO officer.
Convenience factor
Experts weigh in on potential impact of ATM withdrawals
Experts believe that allowing EPFO corpus withdrawals through ATMs would greatly improve access to funds for members, especially in urgent situations. Currently, withdrawals are often mired in procedural delays and paperwork. However, the success of this initiative will depend on the robustness of EPFO's digital infrastructure and its integration with the banking system.