Nearly 8 million subscribers of the Employee Provident Fund Organisation have withdrawn about Rs 30,000 crore in less than four months.
"The amount withdrawn between April and the third week of July is much more than the usual withdrawals during the same time last year and pandemic-related job losses, salary cuts and medical expenses may explain this substantial increase," The Economic Times quoted an EPFO official as saying.
“Of the total withdrawals, nearly 3 million beneficiaries withdrew upwards of Rs 8,000 crore under the Covid window while the rest Rs 22,000 crore was a general withdrawal by 5 million EPFO subscribers, mainly as medical advance,” an EPFO official said.
On Monday, the retirement fund body updated KYC details of 73.58 lakh subscribers in April-June, which enabled them to access a host of its online services.
KYC updation enables a member to avail online services through the member portal.
A subscriber can file online for final withdrawal and advances including the recently introduced COVID-19 advances under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY).
"To extend the availability and reach of its online services, which have become crucial in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EPFO updated Know Your Customer (KYC) data for its 73.58 lakh subscribers during the month of April to June 2020," the ministry said in a statement.
This includes Aadhaar seeding for 52.12 lakh subscribers, mobile seeding (UAN activation) for 17.48 lakh subscribers and bank account seeding for 17.87 lakh subscribers.