EPFO Withdrawals Cross Rs 30,000 Crore During April-July 2020 As 8 Million Subscribers Withdraw Provident Fund Amid COVID-19 Lockdown

New Delhi, July 28: The Employee Provident Fund Organisation's eight million subscribers have withdrawn close to Rs 30,000 crores in under four months starting from April 2020. Officials estimate that this development may impact the EPFO's earnings in FY 2021.

Informing about the latest updates, an EPFO official said, as quoted by Economic Times, "Of the total withdrawals, nearly 3 million beneficiaries withdrew upwards of Rs 8,000 crore under the COVID window while the rest Rs 22,000 crore was a general withdrawal by 5 million EPFO subscribers, mainly as medical advance." EPF Contribution of Employee As Well As Employer to be Paid by Government Till August 2020.

The official even estimated that the number of EPFO withdrawals may cross 10 million in coming days due to the impact of coronavirus cases in India. Adding more, the official said, "With COVID cases on the rise, the number of the withdrawals are going up faster." However, the full impact of the EPFO returns will only be known after a 'detailed micro-level analysis', said the official.

Earlier in March, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a special window for EPF withdrawals after the nationwide lockdown was imposed. Last week, the Financial Investment and Audit Committee (FIAC) of EPFO had updated KYC details of 73.58 lakh subscribers in April-June. Through these online services, a subscriber can file for final withdrawal and advances which include the recently introduced COVID-19 advances under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY).

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 28, 2020 01:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).