Business: The board of retirement fund body EPFO ​​took a major decision on Monday. It approved liberal partial withdrawal arrangements for its more than seven crore shareholders. Under this, now members will be able to withdraw up to 100 percent from their EPF account.

A statement issued by the Labor Ministry on Monday said that the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the top decision-making body of EPFO ​​under the chairmanship of Labor Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, took several important decisions during its meeting.

The CBT decided to merge 13 complex provisions into one streamlined rule to make life easier for EPF members. Under this, the partial withdrawal provisions of the EPF scheme have been simplified. It is classified into three types i.e. urgent (illness, education, marriage), household needs and special circumstances.

Now members will be able to withdraw up to 100 per cent of the eligible balance including employee and employer’s share in the provident fund. Withdrawal limits have been liberalized. Withdrawals are allowed up to 10 times for education and up to 5 times for marriage (from the existing limit of 3 partial withdrawals total for marriage and education). The minimum service requirement for all partial withdrawals has also been reduced to only 12 months.