EPFO is set to undergo several significant changes in 2025, impacting millions of salaried individuals across India.
These changes aim to enhance the retirement savings experience, streamline processes, and improve transparency for both employees and employers.
Here are some important new rules which could be implemented in 2025 to benefit EPFO members.
EPFO 2025: ATM Withdrawal Facility & Contribution Cap
One of the most anticipated changes is the introduction of an ATM card that will enable subscribers to withdraw money around the clock.
This significant overhaul of services for members is expected to be implemented during the next fiscal year.
The new guidelines will streamline the fund withdrawal process for subscribers, making it quicker and easier.
Currently, subscribers have to wait for around 7 to 10 days to receive their PF money in their bank account. With the new ATM facility, this waiting period will be eliminated.
Another major change will be the removal of the EPF contribution cap for employees.
Currently, employees contribute 12% of their basic salary to the EPF account every month.
However, the government is considering allowing employees to contribute based on their actual salary rather than EPFO-fixed Rs 15,000.
Once this policy is implemented, employees will be able to accumulate a larger fund on retirement and get a higher pension every month.
Centralized Pension Payment System (CPPS)
In September 2024, Minister of Labour and Employment of India Mansukh Mandaviya approved the centralized pension payment system (CPPS), which will enable 7.8 million members of the Employee Pension Scheme to take their pensions from any bank branch in India as of January 1, 2025.
This change will provide greater convenience to pensioners and ensure that they can access their pensions without any hassle.
EPFO has relaxed the requirement of mandatory uploading of the image of a cheque leaf for certain eligible cases.
Additionally, the attested bank passbook is no longer required for these cases. This will facilitate the settlement of online claims more quickly.
It will also lower the number of rejected claims due to the failure to submit an image of the certified bank passbook or cheque leaf at the time of online claim filing.
Additionally, in death cases, processing physical claims without seeding Aadhaar may be permitted as a temporary measure.
This is only allowed with the proper approval of the OIC in an e-office file.
EPFO is considering allowing its members to invest in equities beyond Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).
This will provide PF account holders with the option to manage their funds more effectively.
If the retirement fund body allows direct equity investment, members can expect higher returns and it will also lead to portfolio diversification for members.
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