Banking Updates

The board of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Monday approved full withdrawal of the 75% of the provident fund kitty for education, marriage and medical purposes, while easing norms for partial withdrawals, a move aimed at enhancing the ease of living for over 70 million EPFO subscribers.

However, 25% of the contributions in the members' account has been earmarked as minimum balance to be maintained by the member at all times to ensure a decent retirement corpus.

The decision was taken at the 238th meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of EPFO chaired by labour and employment minister Mansukh Mandaviya. CBT is the apex decision making body of the EPFO.

"To enhance the ease of living of EPF members, the CBT decided to simplify the partial withdrawal provisions of the EPF scheme by merging 13 complex provisions in-to a single, streamlined rule categorised into three types, namely, essential needs (illness, education, marriage), housing needs and special circumstances," the ministry of labour and employment said in a statement issued after the meeting.

As per the statement, members will be able to withdraw up to 100% of the eligible balance in the provident fund including employee and employer share.

Further, withdrawal limits have been liberalised with education withdrawals allowed up to 10 times and marriage up to five times as against the existing limit of a total of three partial withdrawals for marriage and education.

Besides, the requirement of minimum service has been reduced to only 12 months for all partial withdrawals and no reasons will be asked to withdraw under 'special circumstances' category.

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Indian Railways will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Google Maps competitor MapmyIndia for its homegrown navigation app Mappls, railways, and electronics & IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said.

Mappls technology will have various applications for the railways and the MoU, officials said on Sunday.

On Saturday, Vaishnaw experienced Mappls' features first hand. In particular, he pointed out the apps ability to provide Dimensional junction views or previews of flyovers, underpasses, and roundabouts and real time driving alerts for speed limits, accident blackspots, sharp curves, speed breakers ahead, traffic signals & CCTV camera locations.

It also enables users to calculate the cost of trips, by flagging the cost of fuel and toll for specific journeys, suggesting savings with the Fastag Annual Pass brought out by the National Highway Authority of India, or based on vehicle and fuel types.

Designed and developed in India, for Indian locations, it also helps users stay within speed limits and avoid risky patches.

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