UPI-Based Facility To Make PF Withdrawals Faster, Easier

In a move to facilitate and ease withdrawal of the accumulated Provident Fund (PF) contributions made by the member employees, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is all set to allow contributors to withdraw their deposits and accruals through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

Announcing this, Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the testing of the facility had been completed, and subscribers may soon be able to transfer eligible PF balances instantly into their bank accounts using UPI. EPFO comes under the administrative control of the Union Ministry of Labour & Employment.

He, however, said that a fixed roll out date had yet not been fixed, but this facility is part of various initiatives the retirement fund body has undertaken to improve the quality and delivery of service.

Facility Testing Completed

Talking to reporters, the Minister said, “We have completed the testing of the facility where members can withdraw EPF [employees' provident fund] through the use of the UPI payment gateway. The withdrawn amount will be directly transferred into the bank account of the member.”

According to experts, the proposed UPI-based withdrawal process is expected to work in a few simple steps, significantly reducing waiting time and paperwork associated with PF withdrawals.

According to them, members of the fund will first be able to check the eligible EPF balance that is available for withdrawal and then the withdrawal amount will be linked to the bank account already seeded with EPFO records. Users will then authenticate the transaction using their UPI PIN, ensuring a secure transfer of money into their bank accounts, they said, adding that once approved, the amount will be credited directly to the linked bank account instantly or within a short time.

EPF Corpus

The Ministry has indicated that only a certain portion of the EPF corpus will be made available for instant withdrawal through UPI, while the remaining balance could continue to remain locked under existing EPF withdrawal rules.

At present, EPFO subscribers are required to submit an online or offline withdrawal claim application, following which the request goes through verification and processing before the money is credited to the person’s bank account.

Under the existing system, members may face delays during claim processing, as manual verification is required in certain cases, and thus accessing emergency funds, at times, becomes time-consuming and cumbersome.

UPI-Based Withdrawal System

According to experts, in contrast, the new UPI-based withdrawal system is designed to bring a change and make PF access faster, easier and more user-friendly. When the provision is formally rolled out, the withdrawn provident fund money can then be used immediately for digital payments or ATM cash withdrawals after being credited to the linked bank account, they added.

Earlier this week, Ramesh Krishnamurthi, Central Provident Fund Commissioner at the EPFO, also told reporters that the organisation plans to extend its auto-settlement process to include final provident fund withdrawal claims and automate the transfer of accounts when members change employers.

In addition to that, Mandaviya said that the EPFO has taken the initiative to use WhatsApp for enhancing outreach and streamlining member services. The reason for choosing the medium is to reach mobile users. He also informed that the EPFO has undertaken a focused, mission-mode initiative to reduce litigation and ensure the timely resolution of pending cases across various legal forums, as it has launched a dedicated mission mode drive to dispose of cases pending before consumer courts.