Experts say new EPF withdrawal norms as efforts in right direction
(clockwise) Ramkumar Subramanian (Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat), Shishir Sinha (Associate Editor, businessline), Rajneesh Singh (CEO, Simpli Group), A Balasubramanian (Senior VP, TeamLease Services)
New withdrawal norms for retirement fund Employees Provident Fund (EPF) are a step in the right direction, experts at a webinar, organised by buisnessline on Monday said. However, they felt that promoting the culture of saving through new norms for EPF among younger generation is likely to be challenging.
The webinar with expert panel comprising Rajneesh Singh (CEO, Simpli Group), A Balasubramanian (Senior VP, TeamLease Services) and Ramkumar Subramanian (Partner, Grant Thornton Bharat) discussed and decoded the new EPF withdrawal norms. It was moderated by businessline’s Associate Editor, Shishir Sinha.
New norms, as approved by Central Board of Trustees (CBT, apex policy making body of EPFO), proposed withdrawal of 75 per cent money from total fund (contribution from employee, employer and accrued interest) before superannuation while maintaining 25 per cent all the time as minimum balance.
If the subscribers remain unemployed for one year, then balance can also be withdrawn at that time. The question that is being asked is — Why keep this balance as it is the subscriber and his employer’s money.
To answer this, Balasubramanian said: “Of course it’s people’s money. There is no question about it. But the government also has a responsibility to ensure that good financial habits and some prudence are practiced.”
Taking the argument forward, Ramkumar Subarmanian said: “You have youngsters who are dipping into the pockets and the savings for investments etc. There is a concern about whether this money being used in the right way. If you look at the fine print, it is restricting in many ways in terms of how you are able to withdraw.”
Further, he added that even the young will, in future, require certain funds available at retirement. “This regulation is purely to help people, save for a rainy day,” said Subramanian.
However, Rajneesh Singh expressed some concerns. “For this generation, the trend is instant gratification, living on month-on-month. We have a huge task in such a situation. We are trying to regulate in an environment which is wanting more freedom, flexibility… It’s a very Catch-22 situation actually,” he said.
He added that the young generation has little interest in pension. “There is a huge struggle. While we might want a lot of people to come into this so-called a net, I also sense that there is tonnes of resistance,” he said.
Meanwhile, Balasubramanian hoped that with the new norms in place, the rejection for partial withdrawal, which was as high as 25 per cent, may come down. “Hopefully, those cases will get taken care of because now they are saying that for partial withdrawals, you don’t need any kind of documentation at all and there’ll be an auto settlement that’s going to happen. So that should eliminate this aspect of subjectivity,” he said.
Published on October 27, 2025
