As reported in April 2016, the Central Government had, on February 10, 2016, notified amendments to the Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme. These changes would have taken effect from May 1, 2016 and included the following: (a) members (i.e. employees) of the Provident Fund would have been allowed to withdraw their full Provident Fund accumulations at the time of retirement after attaining the age of 58 years; (b) members of the Provident Fund would have been permitted to withdraw up to 90% of their Provident Fund accumulations upon attaining the age of 57 years or 1 year before their actual retirement, whichever is later; (c) the employee would have been allowed to withdraw only an amount equal to such employee’s contribution to the Provident Fund plus applicable interest; and (d) employee would not have been permitted to open a new Provident Fund account, but could continue his/her existing account. Following protests from employees of various sectors, the Central Government withdrew these amendments to the Act via a notification dated April 19, 2016. The original provisions of the Act remain valid and include: (a) the employee can still re-register with the Employees Provident Fund Organization as a “new member” upon taking a new employment; (b) employees who are migrating outside India or taking up employment abroad can still withdraw their full Provident Fund accumulations prior to leaving India; and (c) an employee can still, after 2 months following the cessation of his/her employment, make a full withdrawal of all Provident Fund accumulations.
India