EPF Withdrawal via UPI from April: Here’s How to Withdraw Up to Rs 25,000

The EPFO is rolling out a UPI based withdrawal option through the BHIM app, enabling members to access provident fund savings with clear balance and frequency safeguards, and coordinated by EPFO, C-DAC, NPCI and SBI.

India

-Ashish Rana

From
April,
more
than
8
crore
Employees’
Provident
Fund
Organisation
members
are
expected
to
withdraw
provident
fund
money
using
Unified
Payments
Interface
through
the
BHIM
app.
A
senior
government
official
said
initial
instant
withdrawals
are
likely
to
be
limited
to
Rs
25,000
per
transaction,
while
keeping
the
existing
minimum
25%
balance
rule
intact
for
every
contributing
account
holder.

The
new
UPI-based
option
will
display
each
member’s
EPFO
balance
in
two
clear
parts
on
the
BHIM
interface.
One
portion
will
show
the
amount
eligible
for
withdrawal.
The
other
will
separately
show
the
mandatory
minimum
25%
balance
that
must
stay
in
the
account,
in
line
with
the
liberalised
withdrawal
framework
approved
earlier.

EPFO
UPI
withdrawal
system
development
and
rollout

“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
access
the
UPI
facility
through
BHIM,
subject
to
existing
UPI
guardrails
such
as
transaction
rules
and
daily
limits.
The
interface
is
expected
to
benefit
many
blue-collared
workers
enrolled
under
EPFO,
especially
those
who
struggle
to
use
the
current
online
withdrawal
portal
or
face
documentation
hurdles
while
seeking
partial
withdrawals.

EPFO
UPI
withdrawal
safeguards
and
usage
norms

“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.

EPFO’s
revised
rules
now
require
members
to
maintain
at
least
25%
of
their
total
contributions
as
a
minimum
balance
at
all
times,
while
allowing
up
to
75%
of
the
corpus
to
be
withdrawn
under
different
conditions.
These
norms
also
apply
when
someone
leaves
a
job
and
seeks
premature
final
settlement
during
unemployment,
an
area
that
drew
political
criticism
after
a
rule
change.

One
decision
extended
the
minimum
period
for
premature
final
settlement
during
unemployment
from
two
months
to
12
months.
Opposition
leaders
questioned
this
move.
The
Ministry
of
Labour
and
Employment
later
clarified
that
75%
of
a
member’s
EPF
amount
can
still
be
taken
out
immediately
after
leaving
a
job,
and
the
remaining
25%
becomes
withdrawable
after
staying
unemployed
for
one
year.

EPFO
UPI
withdrawal
rules
and
categories

The
UPI
facility
is
being
built
around
withdrawal
changes
cleared
at
the
EPFO
Board
meeting
in
October
last
year.
Those
decisions
reduced
existing
withdrawal
categories
from
13
to
three
groups:
essential
needs
such
as
illness,
education
and
marriage;
housing-related
requirements;
and
special
circumstances,
which
cover
specific
hardship
situations
notified
under
EPFO
rules.

Education
and
illness
withdrawals
were
made
more
flexible
under
the
revised
norms.
Partial
withdrawals
for
education
can
now
be
made
up
to
10
times
during
the
entire
membership,
while
marriage-related
withdrawals
are
allowed
5
times.
Under
illness
and
special
circumstances,
members
may
withdraw
3
times
and
2
times
respectively
in
every
financial
year,
subject
to
basic
limits.

EPFO
UPI
withdrawal
software
changes
and
timing

The
digital
withdrawal
facility
could
have
launched
earlier,
but
software
work
had
to
reflect
recent
legal
changes.
The
official
said
the
notification
of
Labour
Codes
in
November
and
the
easing
of
withdrawal
rules
in
October
forced
fresh
changes
in
the
proposed
UPI
system
so
that
every
rule
change
was
reflected
correctly
in
the
EPFO
technology
stack.

“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.
Once
active,
the
BHIM-based
EPFO
UPI
withdrawal
option
is
expected
to
provide
a
faster,
rule-compliant
channel
for
workers
to
access
their
provident
fund
savings.