EPF Pandemic Advance: NLC, TCS, HCL Employees Make Top Withdrawals

The Ministry of Labour provided an update on Monday regarding the provision for a special withdrawal from the EPF Scheme as part of the Pradhan Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) meant to financially help those affected by COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the provision EPF subscribers are allowed to make non- refundable withdrawal to the extent of the basic wages and dearness allowances for three months or up to 75 percent of the amount standing to the member's credit in their EPF account, whichever is less. The member can apply for a lesser amount as well.

"It is heartening to report that the exempted PF trusts have also risen to the occasion amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. As on the forenoon of 17.04.2020, Rs. 481.63 crores (Rs. 481,63,76,714) have been disbursed to 40,826 PF Members as advance under para 68-L for COVID-19 by the exempted PF Trusts," the Ministry's statement said.

The Ministry also released data on the top 10 exempted establishments in terms of the amount disbursed for COVID-19 claims. Exempted establishments are companies that manage the EPF accounts of their employees on their own but as per guidelines issued by EPFO.

According to the data of the top 10 disbursers of EPF advance as on 17 April, over 40,000 employees of these exempted companies have applied for the advance to withdraw around Rs 480 crore.

Sl. No.	Establishment Name	No. of Applications received	No. of claims settled	Amount disbursed (Rs)
1	Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Cuddalore	3,255	3,255	84.44 crore
2	Tata Consultancy Services, Mumbai	9,373	9,373	43.34 crore
3	VISAKHAPATNAM STEEL PLANT, Vizag	1,708	1,708	40.99 crore
4	NTPC Limited, Delhi	925	925	28.74 crore
5	HCL Technologies Ltd./Hindustan Instrument Ltd. Employees Provident Fund Trust, Gurgaon	6,938	4,415	27.14 crore
6	Power Grid Corporation of India, Delhi	1,263	1,089	26.17 crore
7	ONGC, Dehradun	2,297	1,723	24.17 crore
8	BHEL, RC Puram	1,367	1,199	22.22 crore
9	M/S BHEL, Bhopal	1,758	926	16.42 crore
10	Hindustan Petroleum Corp., Mumbai	461	461	14.33 crore

Earlier on 16 April, the labour ministry said in an official statement said that 331,000 employees had withdrawn EPF advances worth Rs 946 crore under the scheme.