Amid mounting criticism over its revised withdrawal norms, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has defended its decision to mandate that at least 25% of every member’s provident fund balance remain untouched until retirement. The organisation termed the move a “measured and forward-looking” step aimed at safeguarding long-term retirement savings while still allowing members partial access to funds during emergencies. Advertisement

EPFO chief and Central Provident Fund Commissioner Ramesh Krishnamurthi said the intent behind the move was to strike a balance between accessibility and financial discipline. “The idea was to make it easy for people to access their PF money when genuinely needed, but also protect their retirement corpus for long-term social security,” he told CN

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