Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced on Thursday that the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will soon launch the “EPFO 3.0 version,” which will allow subscribers to withdraw funds from ATMs, along with several other new features.

Speaking after inaugurating EPFO’s Office Complex of Telangana Zonal Office and Regional Office here this evening, he said the ‘EPFO 3.0 version’ will be equivalent to the banking system.

“In the coming days, EPFO 3.0 version will come. This means EPFO will become equivalent to a bank. Like how transactions are carried out in a bank, you (EPFO subscribers) have your Universal Account Number (UAN) and you will be able to do all your work,” he said.

“Neither do you to have visit EPFO offices nor do you have to go to employer. It is your money and you can withdraw it as and when you want. Now you still need to go to EPFO offices. I promise you, in the coming days, you can withdraw your money from ATMs whenever you want. We are carrying out such reforms in EPFO.” Mandaviya, who also virtually inaugurated Regional Office in Naroda, Gujarat and laid foundation stone of staff quarters in Gurugram, Haryana, said under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, EPFO is changing and undergoing reforms.

Complaints are declining and services are increasing, he said, adding EPFO’s system and working style have changed with a pro-people approach.

He further said the EPFO platform is witnessing rapid changes and cited fund transfer, claim transfer and corrections in name (of subscribers), withdrawal of pension from any bank as among the reform measures undertaken for the beneficiaries.

Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy also spoke.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)