NEW DELHI,13 OCTOBER 2025: The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), under the chairmanship of Union Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, has approved a series of path-breaking decisions aimed at fundamentally simplifying member services, reducing litigation, and accelerating the organization’s digital transformation.
The 238th CBT meeting, which saw the presence of key officials including Vice-Chairperson Sushri Shobha Karandlaje, marked a significant shift towards a more flexible and user-friendly provident fund ecosystem.
Key Reforms Approved by the CBT:
1. Landmark Simplification of Partial Withdrawals
In a move set to dramatically enhance ease of living for subscribers, the CBT decided to merge 13 complex provisions for partial withdrawals into a single, streamlined rule. The new framework is categorized into three clear segments:
- Essential Needs: Illness, education, marriage.
- Housing Needs
- Special Circumstances
Major Liberalisations Include:
- Members can now withdraw up to 100% of their eligible balance (including both employee and employer shares).
- The number of permitted withdrawals has been increased—up to 10 times for education and 5 times for marriage.
- The minimum service requirement has been uniformly reduced to just 12 months for all partial withdrawals.
- For ‘Special Circumstances,’ members no longer need to specify reasons, eliminating a major source of claim rejections.
- A new “Minimum Balance” provision mandates maintaining 25% of total contributions to ensure a growing retirement corpus, protecting long-term savings while providing immediate liquidity.
2. ‘Vishwas Scheme’ to Slash Litigation
Acknowledging the high burden of litigation, the CBT launched the ‘Vishwas Scheme,’ a voluntary disclosure initiative to rationalise penal damages for delayed PF remittances.
- It offers a reduced, flat penal damage rate of 1% per month for most defaults, with lower graded rates for shorter delays.
- The scheme, operational for six months (and extendable), covers ongoing, finalized, and pre-adjudication cases. Compliance will lead to the abatement of pending litigation.
- This is expected to resolve disputes involving outstanding penal damages of ₹2,406 crore and over 6,000 pending court cases.
3. Digital & Service Delivery Enhancements
The Board approved several digital initiatives to modernize service delivery:
- Doorstep Pensioner Services: An MoU with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) will provide doorstep Digital Life Certificate services to pensioners for free.
- EPFO 3.0 Digital Framework: A comprehensive, member-centric digital transformation framework was approved, based on a hybrid model integrating Core Banking Solutions with cloud-native technologies to enable instant withdrawals and multilingual services.
- New Portfolio Managers: Four fund managers were selected for a five-year term to manage EPFO’s debt portfolio, aiming to safeguard and enhance returns for members.
Inauguration of Digital Modules
Chairman Dr. Mandaviya inaugurated key digital systems, including:
- A re-engineered ECR module to streamline employer compliance and reduce grievances.
- A revamped user management module to enhance security and access for EPFO offices.
- Upgraded e-Office and SPARROW platforms for faster file processing and transparent staff appraisals.
Progress Review
The Board was apprised of significant achievements, including the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PM-VBRY), India’s global recognition at the World Social Security Forum, the signing of the India-UK DCC agreement, and the timely annual interest credit at 8.25% to member accounts.
These collective decisions represent one of the most significant overhauls of the EPF system in recent years, squarely focused on simplifying processes for both employees and employers while strengthening the social security net for India’s workforce.