EPFO scheme: Buy low cost houses using PF
Posted on: 15/Aug/2016 12:39:45 PM
EPFO may soon introduce a scheme to allow its subscribers to pledge their provident fund to buy low-cost houses and use the account to pay equated monthly installments.
Labour Secretary Shankar Aggarwal said: We are working on a housing scheme for members of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). Under it, members will be allowed to pledge their PF accumulations to buy homes. The proposal will be placed before the EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees meeting expected next month. Once approved by the CBT, the scheme will be available for the subscribers. We don’t want to impose anything on the subscribers. Therefore, we will not buy land or build houses for them. They will be free to choose their own homes from the open market.
The panel had suggested this scheme for low income formal workers who are EPFO subscribers and could not buy a house during their entire service period.
Under the proposed scheme, there will be a tripartite agreement between member, bank/housing agency and EPFO for pledging future PF contributions as EMI payment.
Last year, the proposal for facilitating the EPFO subscribers to buy low cost homes was listed on the agenda of the CBT meeting held on September 16. In May, Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya had told Lok Sabha in a written reply: Government is exploring the possibility for providing a suitable low-cost housing scheme for subscribers of Employees’ Pension Fund.
