The government is considering changes to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) rules to give members greater flexibility in using their savings.
Officials are reportedly working on easing withdrawal limits for purposes such as housing, marriage, and education.
Currently, EPFO members can withdraw their full corpus only after reaching the retirement age of 58 or if they remain unemployed for more than two months. Partial withdrawals are allowed under certain conditions. For marriage, members with at least seven years of service can withdraw up to 50% of their contribution and interest for their own marriage, or that of a sibling or child.
For housing, up to 90% of the accumulated balance can be withdrawn for property purchase, provided the property is in the member’s name, their spouse, or jointly owned, and the member has completed a minimum of three years of service. For education, members can withdraw up to 50% of their contribution and interest for post-matriculation education of their children, with a minimum of seven years of service.
Two senior government officials said the proposed changes could be implemented within a year. “We don’t want to put restrictions on the members; it’s their money, and they should have the freedom to manage their fund according to their needs,” one official said.
The proposed revisions aim to make EPFO savings more flexible, allowing members to use their funds for personal and family needs without waiting until retirement.