A post is going viral on social media, in which some misleading claims have been made regarding the rules related to EPFO. It has been said in the post that you cannot withdraw 25% of your PF balance until you retire. These claims have been found misleading in fact check.
Fact Check: Every day such messages, posts or videos are made viral on social media, which are deliberately shared as part of propaganda with the aim of tarnishing the image of the country. Sometimes people even cause personal harm by trusting these viral posts. One such post is going viral these days, in which many misleading claims have been made about the rules of EPFO.
What kind of misleading claims are made in the viral post?
An X handle named @SaketGokhale has made many misleading claims regarding changes in EPFO rules. Let us tell you that this ex-handle belongs to TMC spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP.
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Claim number 1- 25% of your EPF balance cannot be withdrawn and will remain locked-in throughout your career, until you retire.
What is the truth- Withdrawal of the entire PF balance (including minimum 25% balance) is permitted under certain conditions. Such as retirement after 55 years of service, permanent disability, retrenchment, voluntary retirement, or leaving India permanently etc. Apart from this, withdrawal of entire PF balance (including minimum 25% balance) is allowed after 12 months of continuous unemployment.
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Claim number 2- EPF has been made mandatory. This means that salaried persons can no longer escape this monthly plunder by the government on their own income.
What is the truth- The EPF and MP Act 1952 was always mandatory for all establishments employing 20 or more people and whose monthly income is less than or equal to Rs 15,000.
Claim number 3- There has been a huge increase in unemployment due to bad economic policies.
What is the truth- There has been no increase in unemployment. According to the Annual Report of the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS), the unemployment figures declined to 3.2% in the financial year 2023-24 compared to 6% in 2017-18. According to net payroll data, more than 1.29 crore employees were added to the payroll in 2024-25. EPFO has a corpus of about ₹28 lakh crore and has won the trust of crores of members due to its strength, security and high returns (in many cases tax-free).
conclusion
The claims being made in the viral post regarding EPFO rules are completely misleading. Before trusting any such suspicious post, collect correct information from authentic sources.
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