Hike in PF pension under consideration of Cabinet: Minister

Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya told a meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in New Delhi on Monday (October 13, 2025) that the Cabinet was actively considering increasing the minimum PF pension.

Though the issue was not in agenda, trade union members in the CBT said during the discussions that the minimum PF pension should be revised from the present amount of ₹1,000 a month. “The Minister did not rule it out and said the Cabinet is actively considering the proposal,” a CBT member told The Hindu after the meeting.

The meeting also discussed the issue of delay in distributing higher pension as per the Supreme Court order. Against the background of various High Court orders, some CBT members representing workers argued that the EPFO must withdraw the guidelines framed on the matter and urged that new guidelines should be implemented in tune with the top court order. “The response was not positive,” another member said.

The Labour Ministry, in a release, said the meeting took a number of path-breaking decisions, including simplification and liberalisation of the EPF partial withdrawal provisions. “To enhance ease of living for EPF members, CBT decided to simplify the partial withdrawal provisions of the EPF scheme by merging 13 complex provisions into a single, streamlined rule categorised into three types, namely, Essential Needs (illness, education, marriage), Housing Needs, and Special Circumstances. Now, members will be able to withdraw up to 100% of the eligible balance in the Provident Fund, including employee and employer shares,” the Ministry said.

Withdrawal limits have also been liberalised — education withdrawals will be allowed up to 10 times and marriage up to five times (from the existing limit of a total of three partial withdrawals for marriage and education in all). “The requirement of minimum service has been uniformly reduced to only 12 months for all partial withdrawals,” it added.

The meeting also decided to launch the ‘Vishwas Scheme’ to reduce litigation through rationalised penal damages. “One of the major reasons for litigations has been the imposition of damages for belated remittances of PF dues. As of May 2025, outstanding penal damages stand at ₹2,406 crore, with over 6,000 cases pending across forums including High Courts, CGITs, and Supreme Court. Further, nearly 21,000 potential litigation cases are pending under EPFO’s e-proceedings portal,” the Ministry said.

The CBT approved signing an MoU with the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to provide doorstep Digital Life Certificate (DLC) services to EPS’95 pensioners at a cost of ₹50 per certificate, fully borne by the EPFO. As part of the EPFO 3.0, the CBT approved a comprehensive member-centric digital transformation framework to modernise provident fund services. The meeting also approved the selection of four fund managers — SBI Funds Management Limited, HDFC AMC Ltd., Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd., and UTI AMC Ltd. — for managing the debt portfolio of the EPFO for a period of five years.