New Delhi, March 31: As the entire country has come to standstill due to 21-day national Coronavirus lockdown, the economy has taken a hard-hit and some people are dealing with cash crisis at the moment. The Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) recently announced that the employees will be allowed to withdraw 75 percent of their savings or three months salary (whichever is lower). PF Withdrawal Rules Changed to Provide Relief to People Amid COVID-19 Pandemic, Govt to Pay Provident Fund Contributions On Behalf of Both Employer & Employee in Some Cases; Check Details.

EPFO has an active subscriber base of over 55 million and manages corpus of over 10.5 trillion. Before COVID-19 Pandemic, the advance withdrawal of Provident Fund was allowed in emergency cases like repayment of a loan, purchase/construction of the house, non-receipt of the wage for two months, for medical treatment of family members, the marriage of self/daughter/son/brother among others. Coronavirus Economic Package: Nirmala Sitharaman Announces Free Food, Cash Under Rs 1.7 Lakh Crore PM Garib Kalyan Yojana For Poor, Insurance Cover For Doctors And Other Frontline Workers.

To Withdraw PF Money Online, Here Are Steps You Must Follow:

  • Login to the EPFO portal - unifiedportal-mem.epfindia.gov.in using Universal Account Number (UAN) and password

  • Go to 'online services' and click on claim the form

  • You will be redirected to a new page, where you have to verify the bank account number

  • Upload a scanned copy of the passbook or cheque

  • You will be asked reason for submitting the advance.

  • Select "outbreak of pandemic" as the reason

  • Generate an Aadhaar-based OTP

  • Once the claim is processed, it will be forwarded to the employer for approval.

Last week, the government has decided to pay EPFO contribution for both employer and employee for the next three months. This benefits will only be passed to organisations with up to 100 employees and 90 percent of them earning less than Rs 15,000.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 31, 2020 08:54 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).