EPFO has approved the withdrawal of Kovid-19 Advance for the second time to its more than 50 million subscribers.
The Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has approved more than five crore subscribers to take advantage of the second Kovid-19 Advance in view of the second wave of Corona virus infection in the country. Earlier last year, the EPFO allowed its members to take out Kovid-19 Advance to deal with emergencies due to the epidemic. Under this, employees are allowed to withdraw up to 75 percent of the non-refundable advance or basic salary and DA for 3 months from the credit in their PF account. Whichever is less, they can be removed.
Provision was made earlier under the Prime Minister’s Poor Welfare Scheme
A Labor Ministry statement said that to support its subscribers during the second wave of the Kovid-19 epidemic, the EPFO has now allowed its members to take advantage of the second non-refundable Kovid-19 advance. It said that the provision of special withdrawal was made under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) in March 2020 to meet the financial needs of the members during the epidemic.
For this, the Ministry of Labor and Employment has inserted Sub Para (3) in paragraph 68L by notification in the Employment Provident Fund Scheme, 1952 in the official gadget. Under this provision, three months basic salary and a non-refundable withdrawal of up to 75% from the credit in DA or PF account, whichever is less, is provided. Members can also apply for a lesser amount.
Kovid-19 has proved to be a big help for EPF members during the advance epidemic, especially for those whose monthly salary is less than Rs 15,000. So far, EPFO has settled more than 76.31 lakh Kovid-19 advance claims, resulting in a total disbursement of Rs 18,698.15 crore.
