New Delhi: Subscribers of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the state-run retirement fund manager, will have quicker access to their savings deposits through ATM withdrawal facilities, an official said.
Ready withdrawal of provident fund savings up to a certain ceiling with an EPFO account-linked ATM card is among several features to be rolled out likely by January 2025, according to the official cited above.
Provident funds provide retirement income for nearly all salaried Indians in the formal sector, with nearly 70 million subscribers. These funds often serve as the primary corpus for the lifetime savings of working people.
“We have reviewed the entire information technology system of the EPFO and are making substantial updates. Our aim is to have an IT system comparable to global banking systems,” said union labour secretary Sumitra Dawra on the sidelines of the Global Economic Policy Forum 2024 last week.
According to data based on transactions via the new system, the ongoing overhaul of the EPFO, including a new advanced software platform, has improved its previously sluggish customer service.
The infrastructure upgrade, called EPFO 2.01, aims to speed up transactions, reduce claim rejections, and shorten turnaround times.
“For the ease of living of claimants, beneficiaries, and insured persons, we’re working to ensure they can access their claims from an ATM with minimal human intervention,” Dawra said.
