EPFO 3.0: Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) subscribers have been looking forward to the launch of EPFO 3.0 for quite a while now. Various reports suggest that EPFO 3.0 will introduce a bunch of new features for users. One of the exciting features is the option to withdraw PF funds using ATMs or UPI. That’s right! With the new system, subscribers will have the ability to take out their PF funds from their accounts via ATMs or UPI. This might explain why the rollout is taking longer than expected. So far, there hasn’t been any official announcement regarding when these new features will be available to subscribers.
Will you be able to withdraw PF money through ATM or UPI?
At this moment, we can’t say for sure, as no official details have been released. The EPFO hasn’t activated the ATM or UPI withdrawal feature yet. Although it was anticipated to launch in June 2025, it has faced delays due to technical challenges and testing. Initially, the EPFO was expected to reveal this feature during its board meeting in October. However, the updates related to EPFO 3.0 were mainly focused on making EPF withdrawal claims easier.
And what will be new?
The rules for EPF partial withdrawals have been streamlined into three straightforward categories: essential needs (like illness, education, marriage), housing needs, and special circumstances. This replaces the previous complicated system of 13 separate rules, making everything clearer and more straightforward.
Members can now withdraw up to 100% of their eligible provident fund balance, which includes contributions from both the employee and the employer.
The withdrawal limit for education has been raised to 10 times, and for marriage, it’s now 5 times, whereas it used to be only 3 times for both purposes.
Additionally, the minimum service period required to qualify for any partial withdrawal has been cut down to 12 months, compared to the earlier varying timelines.
Members will now have to maintain 25% of their contributions as minimum balance to protect their retirement corpus and continue to receive EPFO’s higher interest rate of 8.25% per annum.
The entire process will be document-free and 100% auto-settled, resulting in faster claim disbursement. Furthermore, the timelines for premature final settlement and pension withdrawal have been extended to promote long-term savings.
There is no official time limit yet as to when PF withdrawal will start through ATM or UPI.
