NE BUSINESS BUREAU
NEW DELHI, APRIL 10
The world’s largest retirement fund body the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Thursday said it has so far remitted Rs 279.65 crore to 1.37 lakh subscribers under the special withdrawal window provided as part of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) package.
Announcing the PMGKY package on March 26, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said around four crore workers registered with the EPFO can withdraw a non-refundable advance to the extent of the basic wages and dearness allowances for three months, or up to 75% of the amount standing to member’s credit in the EPF account, whichever is less.
The EPFO notified the scheme on March 28. Anticipating a huge surge in demand, it came out with new software for online receipt and settlement of claims and deployed the software on March 29.
“It may be informed that since the introduction of this programme, the EPFO across the country has processed about 1.37 lakh claims disbursing an amount of Rs 279.65 crore and the remittances of the money have already started. The system as it stands today is processing all applications which are fully KYC-compliant within less than 72 hours,” the retirement fund body said in a release.
An EPFO subscriber can also apply for a lesser amount. Being an advance, it does not attract income tax deductions.
Claims for availing of advance to fight the pandemic are to be filed online, necessitating every EPF account to be KYC-complaint as the pre-cursor.
Eases norms for birth date correction
The EPFO has relaxed the criteria for correction in date of birth to ease KYC compliance. It accepts the date of birth recorded in the Aadhaar card of a subscriber as a valid proof for rectification of the date of birth in PF records. All cases with variation in the date of birth of up to three years are now being accepted by the EPFO.
