New EPFO app to enable EPF withdrawals via UPI from April

Subscribers of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will soon be able to withdraw their Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) directly into their bank accounts using the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), with a newly designed mobile application scheduled to be launched in April, a senior government source said.

According to the source, the Labour Ministry is working on a system under which a certain proportion of EPF savings will be frozen, while a substantial portion will be made available for withdrawal through bank accounts using the UPI payment gateway.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation is set to roll out a dedicated mobile application that will allow members to withdraw EPF money using UPI, in addition to accessing services such as checking passbook balances and account details.

At present, EPFO subscribers access their accounts and services either through the Universal Account Number (UAN) portal or the UMANG application. The source said these platforms will continue to remain operational, while the new mobile app is expected to further improve ease of access and speed of service delivery for EPFO members.

Under the proposed system, subscribers will be able to view the portion of their EPF balance that is eligible for withdrawal and transfer to their bank accounts linked with EPFO. Transactions will be completed using the member’s linked UPI PIN, which the source said would ensure secure and seamless transfer of funds.

The source added that EPFO is currently conducting trial runs using 100 dummy accounts to test the system, identify technical issues and improve overall efficiency before the public rollout.

The Labour Ministry is expected to launch the application formally in April with a nationwide outreach programme.

At present, EPFO members are required to file withdrawal claims to access their own EPF savings, a process that is often seen as time-consuming. While claims are increasingly processed online, members must still submit applications to initiate withdrawals.

Under the auto-settlement mode, withdrawal claims are settled electronically without manual intervention within three days of filing the application. The ceiling for auto-settlement has recently been raised to Rs 5 lakh from the earlier Rs 1 lakh, allowing more members to benefit from faster access to funds.

This facility enables EPFO subscribers to withdraw money for specified purposes such as illness, education, marriage and housing within a short time frame. EPFO, which has around 8 crore members, first introduced online auto-settlement of advance claims during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide quick financial relief.

Despite these reforms, members are still required to file claims for every withdrawal. The new UPI-based system is being developed to reduce this dependence on formal claims and to cut down the administrative burden on EPFO, which settles more than 5 crore claims every year, most of them related to EPF withdrawals.

The source clarified that EPFO cannot allow direct withdrawals from EPF accounts in the same manner as banks because it does not hold a banking licence. However, the government’s objective is to upgrade EPFO’s digital services and make them comparable to banking platforms in terms of speed, accessibility and user experience.

If implemented as planned, the new application is expected to significantly change how EPFO members access their retirement savings.