New Delhi: The Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has made some significant changes in its rules in recent times to help the beneficiaries. EPFO has provided the facility of auto-mode settlement for advance claims for medical, education, marriage and housing purposes.
EPF advance can claimed be in below-mentioned situations
Purchase of house/flat/construction of house including acquisition of site
in case of lockout/closure of establishment for more than 15 days,
The employees are rendered unemployed without compensation
Employee has not received wages for more than 2 months continuously (for reasons other than
strike)
For his/her own treatment
For marriage of self/daughter/son/ brother/sister
Partial withdrawal before retirement
How many days it takes to settle PF advance claim?
PF account holders who need funds in emergency situations can avail the benefit of this facility. Earlier, it used to take 15 to 20 days to claim this facility from EPFO, but now the department releases the fund within 3 to 4 days. Earlier, the time period was more as verification of documents like member’s eligibility, documents, KYC status of EPF account, bank account etc used to take time. However, the system is now automated and the documents are sent for scrutiny and approval online, so that the claim can be settled easily and fast.
The auto mode for Provident Fund claim settlement for emergency cases was started in April 2020, but at that time money was allowed to be withdrawn only in cases of illness. Now, the government has expanded the scope and an EPF member can withdraw money from the account for illness, education, marriage and even buying a house. If the member’s sister or brother is getting married, then also money can be withdrawn in advance.
The EPFO rules allow withdrawal of funds up to Rs 1 lakh from EPF account, whereas earlier this limit was Rs 50,000. Withdrawal of advance funds can be done through auto settlement mode. For this, no approval is required from anyone and the money will be sent directly to the beneficiary’s account within three days. For this, it is necessary to provide KYC, eligibility of claim request, bank account details.
EPFO withdrawal rules: Partial withdrawal is permissible under emergencies such as medical treatment, higher education and some other circumstances. Personal Finance Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
