EPFO to soon enable advance withdrawals via BHIM app

NEW DELHI: In a move aimed at improving ease of access and flexibility for its over 30 crore members to dip into their provident fund corpus, Employees Provident Fund Organisation is set to operationalise the instantaneous advance withdrawal facility via the BHIM app in the next two to three months.

The facility akin to an ATM withdrawal is at the centre of the retirement fund body's undergoing digital overhaul that manages a corpus of over 26 lakh crore.

EPFO has tied up with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). On the BHIM app, subscribers will have the option to submit an advance claim under any permissible category such as health, education and special circumstances. Once filed, the claim will be verified and authenticated by EPFO at the backend, following which the amount will be settled instantly through SBI. The sanctioned amount will then go to a member's UPI-linked bank account, an official said.

Initially, the instant withdrawal facility will only be available on BHIM app, with the facility expandable to "any other UPI based fintech application in future".

Officials indicated there may be caps, at least initially, to check against misuse. "The entire permissible corpus won't be withdrawable over BHIM app because RBI has set its own limits on UPI withdrawals. Anything instantaneous carries underlying risks as well. The cap is yet to be decided," an official said.

Currently, an online adva-nce claim in auto-mode under Rs 5 lakh takes at least three working days to settle, with more time needed to settle bigger amounts or if a claim requires manual processing.