Overview

• The Central Board of Trustees merged 13 partial-withdrawal rules into three buckets—essential needs, housing needs and special circumstances—and permitted up to 100% withdrawal of the eligible EPF balance while requiring a 25% minimum balance at all times.
• Education withdrawals are now allowed up to 10 times and marriage up to 5 times, the minimum service for any partial withdrawal is set at 12 months, and members need not state reasons under the special circumstances category.
• A time-bound Vishwas Scheme will reduce litigation by cutting penal damages on delayed PF remittances to a flat 1% per month, with graded rates of 0.25% for defaults up to two months and 0.50% for up to four months.
• EPFO 3.0, a phased digital transformation, was approved along with an MoU for India Post Payments Bank to deliver doorstep Digital Life Certificates to EPS-1995 pensioners, with the Rs 50 fee per certificate paid by EPFO.
• Four firms—SBI Funds Management, HDFC AMC, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC and UTI AMC—were appointed to manage the debt portfolio for five years, an expert committee will examine RBI investment recommendations, and the Cabinet is considering a higher minimum pension.