Good news for employees under the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF). Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has shared plans to roll out new withdrawal methods for EPF before March 2026.
As per the new intended features, employees will be able to withdraw up to 75% of their savings via ATMs or the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). The government is doing this to simplify access to provident fund money and make it more efficient.
“You can still withdraw your 75% EPF immediately,” Mandaviya said during ABP Network’s Flagship Event India 2047 Entrepreneurship Conclave. “Before March 2026, the Ministry will introduce a feature where a subscriber can withdraw their EPF through an ATM. The Ministry will also link EPF withdrawals with UPI.”
The minister clarified that the move will help reduce paperwork as well as delays in the current system, which requires subscribers to submit multiple forms for withdrawals. He added how even though the money belongs to the account holder, the procedures often become complicated and hence discourage or delay access.
The changes come from a series of reforms that the EPFO approved in October 2025 in a bid to make the operation more efficient and transparent. Mandaviya had shared that the existing withdrawal framework had become cluttered, with multiple categories, varying eligibility conditions and different minimum service requirements, often leading to confusion and rejected claims.
As such, EPFO has merged around 13 withdrawal categories into one structure and will be expanding the withdrawable amount to include the employer’s contribution, employee’s contribution, and the interest. Previously, the withdrawals were mostly limited to the employee’s contribution, with a cap that ranged between 50% to 100% depending upon the reason provided.
Along with increasing the withdrawal cap to 75%, EPFO has standardised the eligibility period to 12 months of service for all types of withdrawals. This will replace the earlier rules that required service periods of up to seven years for certain claims.
