Withdrawal of Employee Provident Fund (EPF) money has always been considered a long process. But, now the working class is soon going to get freedom from this hassle forever. The Union Labor Ministry has shared a very important update. Soon you will be able to transfer your PF funds directly to your bank account using Unified Payments Interface i.e. UPI. Technical testing of this change has been successfully completed.
At present the process of PF withdrawal is a bit complicated. To withdraw funds, any employee has to first file an online claim. After this the department verifies the documents, only after which the funds are credited to the bank account. This entire paperwork takes several days. However, EPFO has recently implemented auto-settlement system, giving relief to its subscribers. Under this, the withdrawal limit has been increased to Rs 5 lakh. Through this auto-settlement, payment is made in just three days in some cases, yet for common employees this process sometimes proves complicated.
As soon as the new facility goes live, withdrawing PF money will become as easy as paying someone through UPI. This entire process is mainly divided into three easy steps. First of all, you have to log-in to the EPFO portal, where the withdrawable amount will be visible on the dashboard. In the second step, you have to select the bank account which is linked to your UPI. After this you will have to authenticate the transaction by entering your UPI PIN. In the third and final step, once this process is completed the funds will be immediately deposited into your bank account. You will be able to use this money for any UPI payment, online transaction or withdrawing cash from ATM.
More than seven crore EPFO members of the country are going to directly benefit from this new technology. Many times in life, financial needs arise suddenly. Be it the treatment of a serious illness, the expense of children's higher education, construction of a house or marriage, there is a need for immediate cash at such times. With the introduction of UPI withdrawal facility, employees will not have to wait for weeks for their money. This step will provide financial security as well as liquidity to the employees.
