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Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) is soon going to make a big change for its account holders. Till now there was no obligation to maintain any minimum balance in Provident Fund (PF) accounts, but according to media reports, EPFO ​​is now seriously considering implementing the rule of minimum balance for PF accounts also. If this rule is implemented, then crores of employed employees will always have to maintain a fixed amount in their PF account. In more than half of the PF accounts, the balance is only up to ₹ 20,000. A very surprising reason has come to light behind the introduction of this new rule. EPFO’s internal data and review have revealed that almost half of the country’s PF accounts have very low deposits. According to the report, more than 50 percent of the total PF accounts have a maximum balance of only ₹ 20,000. The main reason for this is that due to job change, emergency or medical reasons, people continuously withdraw advance or complete funds from their PF account. Why is there a need for minimum balance rule? The primary objective of EPFO ​​is to make the post-retirement life of employees financially secure. However, the basic purpose of PF accounts is being affected due to the tendency to withdraw money frequently. Account holders withdraw from PF even for their minor needs, due to which they are left with very little funds at the time of retirement. With the aim of curbing this situation and ensuring huge savings to the employees for their future, EPFO ​​is planning to take this strict step. What will be its effect on employed employees? If EPFO ​​mandates minimum balance, account holders will not be allowed to withdraw money beyond a certain limit. For example, if a minimum balance limit is set, you will not be able to touch that limit even when withdrawing advances from your account. This may cause some inconvenience to users who withdraw the entire amount in an emergency, but it can prove to be a big and protective decision in terms of long-term investment and retirement fund. At present, the final announcement by EPFO ​​regarding the date of official implementation of this rule and the limit of minimum amount is awaited.