Overview

• India’s EPFO board approved the EPFO 3.0 framework on October 13, standardising the minimum service for all partial withdrawals to 12 months.
• Members facing unemployment can now withdraw 75% of their EPF balance immediately, with full withdrawal permitted only after 12 months of continuous joblessness.
• The scheme introduces a mandatory rule to keep at least 25% of the corpus after any partial withdrawal to protect retirement savings.
• The waiting period to withdraw pension after job loss extends to 36 months, tightening access to long-term benefits.
• Withdrawal rules are simplified with broader categories and digital, largely paperless processing, and the frequency cap for education and marriage withdrawals rises to 10 and 5 times respectively.