EPFO 3.0 Key Changes: In a significant development for employees who are are subscribers of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) the statutory body has introduced EPFO 3.0. Introducing significant changes to withdrawal rules for unemployment pension and advance claims the new updates under the EPFO 3.0 aim to streamline access to funds with new rules and regulations. Here are all the updates you need to know about the EPFO 3.0. EPFO 3.0 Key Changes: 1. Withdrawal during continuous unemployment Earlier rule: 75% of EPF balance could be withdrawn after 1 month of unemployment. Remaining 25%of the amount could have been withdrawn after 2 months. Under EPFO 3.0: Under the new rules 75% of the EPF balance can be withdrawn immediately. Full withdrawal will only be allowed after 12 months of continuous unemployment. 2. Pension withdrawal after Job loss Earlier rule: As per the earlier rule pension was permitted to be withdrawn after 2 months of unemployment. Under EPFO 3.0: Under the new rule pension amount can be withdrawn only after 36 months of unemployment. 3. Withdrawal in case of lockout or closure Earlier rule: In case of lockout or closure the withdrawal was limited to the employee’s share or up to 100% of the total share. Under EPFO 3.0: Under EPFO 3.0 EPFO members can withdraw 75% of the EPF corpus. Rest of the amount which is 25% must be retained as a mandatory minimum balance under the new rules. 4. Partial Withdrawal for Education and Marriage Earlier rule: Under the earlier rule up to 50% of contribution after 7 years of membership could be withdrawn. Education: allowed 3 times Marriage: allowed 2 times Under EPFO 3.0: Under EPFO 3.0 education withdrawals are allowed up to 10 times. Similarly marriage-related withdrawals allowed up to 5 times during service. 5. Withdrawal for House Purchase/Construction Earlier rule: Up to 36 months’ Basic Wages + DA or total balance or outstanding loan—whichever was less Allowed once during service. Under EPFO 3.0: Under EPFO 3.0 same eligibility and limits retained. Process simplified through digital requests.