In a major reform aimed at improving ease of access and flexibility for over seven crore subscribers, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) board on Monday approved liberalised partial withdrawal rules, allowing members to withdraw up to 100 per cent of their EPF balance.The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), headed by Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, announced a series of key decisions during its meeting, including simplification of withdrawal provisions, introduction of the Vishwas Scheme to reduce litigation, and a digital transformation plan under EPFO 3.0, PTI reported.According to a Labour Ministry statement, 13 complex provisions for partial withdrawals have been merged into a single, streamlined framework categorised under three heads — Essential Needs (illness, education, marriage), Housing Needs, and Special Circumstances.Members will now be able to withdraw up to 100 per cent of their eligible provident fund balance, including both employee and employer contributions. Withdrawal limits for education and marriage have been liberalised, allowing up to 10 times for education and 5 times for marriage, compared to the earlier combined cap of three partial withdrawals.To enhance accessibility, the minimum service requirement for all types of withdrawals has been uniformly reduced to 12 months. Under the Special Circumstances category, members will no longer be required to specify reasons for withdrawal, removing a major cause of claim rejections and grievances.In a key safeguard, 25 per cent of the member’s account contributions will now be earmarked as a minimum balance to ensure continued accumulation of retirement savings. This will allow members to benefit from EPFO’s high interest rate of 8.25% per annum and compound returns for long-term corpus building.The rationalised withdrawal rules are expected to pave the way for 100 per cent auto-settlement of claims without any documentation, ensuring ease of living for subscribers. Additionally, the period for premature final settlement of EPF has been increased from two months to 12 months, while final pension withdrawal will now be allowed after 36 months instead of two.The CBT also approved the Vishwas Scheme to address long-pending litigations arising from penal damages on delayed PF remittances. As of May 2025, penal damages worth Rs 2,406 crore were outstanding, with over 6,000 cases pending across various forums, including the Supreme Court and High Courts.Under the new scheme, penal damages will be reduced to a flat rate of 1 per cent per month, with graded rates of 0.25 per cent for defaults up to two months and 0.50 per cent for defaults up to four months. The scheme will remain operational for six months, extendable by another six months, and covers ongoing, finalised, and pre-adjudication cases under Section 14B. All pending cases will stand abated upon compliance under the scheme.To improve pensioner convenience, the Board approved an MoU with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to provide doorstep Digital Life Certificate (DLC) services to EPS’95 pensioners at no cost. The Rs 50 per certificate charge will be fully borne by EPFO. This initiative will especially benefit pensioners in remote and rural areas, enabling home-based certificate submission and ensuring uninterrupted pension disbursal.As part of EPFO 3.0, the board approved a comprehensive member-centric digital transformation framework. The new hybrid design will integrate core banking solutions with cloud-native, API-first, microservices-based systems covering account management, ERP, compliance, and customer experience.This transformation aims to enable faster, automated claim settlements, instant withdrawals, multilingual self-service, and seamless payroll-linked contributions — reinforcing EPFO’s commitment to transparency, efficiency, and technology-driven governance.Additionally, the Central Board approved the appointment of four fund managers to handle EPFO’s debt portfolio for five years. The selected firms are SBI Funds Management Limited, HDFC AMC Limited, Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Limited, and UTI AMC Limited. The move, recommended by the Selection and Investment Committees, is expected to strengthen risk diversification and ensure prudent management of provident fund investments in line with long-term objectives.Labour Minister Mandaviya also inaugurated a series of digital initiatives aimed at enhancing transparency, efficiency, and user experience in service delivery, reinforcing EPFO’s goal of ensuring ease of living for members and pensioners alike