EPFO discontinues Covid-19 advances to its members

In 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, EPFO introduced a non-refundable advance for EPF members. Then, in May 2021, during the second wave, a second advance was made available.

Moneycontrol News

June 15, 2024 / 09:46 IST

The COVID-19 advance has been a great help to the EPF members during the pandemic, especially for those having monthly wages of less than Rs 15,000.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has announced that it will no longer provide Covid-19 advances to its members with immediate effect.

In a notification dated June 12, EPFO said, "As Covid-19 is no more a pandemic, the competent authority has decided to discontinue the said advance with immediate effect. This will be applicable to the exempted trusts also and accordingly may be intimated to all the Trusts coming under your respective jurisdictions."

In 2020, during the first wave of the pandemic, EPFO introduced a non-refundable advance for EPF members. Then, in May 2021, during the second wave, a second advance was made available.

The members were allowed to withdraw three months basic wages (basic pay + dearness allowance) or up to 75 percent of amount standing to their credit in their provident fund account, whichever is less.

The COVID-19 advance has been a great help to the EPF members during the pandemic, especially for those having monthly wages of less than Rs 15,000.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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