Employees’ Pension Fund (EPF) account holders of EPFO will not have any problem in withdrawing PF money, because now the EPF office will not be able to reject the claim easily.
The Ministry of Communications has issued a guideline regarding this. After receiving complaints of PF claim rejection, the ministry has said that PF claims should be settled as soon as possible. Let us understand when, why and how money can be withdrawn from EPF account.
Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) members have been given relief from the difficulties faced in withdrawing PF money and the problem of repeated claim rejections. The Ministry of Communications issued a guideline last month saying that EPFO shareholders’ claims should not be rejected more than once and claims should not be delayed beyond the stipulated time.
Cases of delay in payment and harassment are coming to the fore. In many cases, it has been observed that claims were rejected for one particular reason and when it was resubmitted after correction, it was again rejected for other/different reasons. All the responsible officers associated with EPFO should ensure that no claim is rejected.
Ministry of Communications said – wrong practice should be stopped immediately
- The Ministry of Communications said that each claim should be thoroughly investigated in the first instance itself.
- The ministry has asked all the responsible officers to ensure that no claim is rejected.
- All the reasons for rejecting any claim should be clarified in the first instance itself.
- Instructions to stop irregular practices in regional offices immediately.
- The ministry said that abnormal delay in providing proper benefit related services has to be stopped by the authorities.
- Rejecting claims with the demand of unnecessary documents from the applicants should be stopped.
- Preventive vigilance exercise should be carried out in the concerned Regional Offices to eliminate malpractices.
When can I withdraw EPF money?
The amount deposited in the EPF account can be withdrawn partially. PF funds can be withdrawn when the employee retires or remains unemployed for more than 2 consecutive months. At the same time, some part of the amount can also be withdrawn in circumstances like medical emergency, marriage, home loan payment.
