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PETALING JAYA: The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has clarified that no amendments have been made to its i-Sinar scheme, which allows taxpayers to make a one-time withdrawal, after requests for the elimination of conditions.
In a statement in response to various media reports, the EPF said the requests and suggestions would be recommended to the board of directors for approval. Any matter involving a major political issue will be raised with the Ministry of Finance.
Several Umno leaders, including former Prime Minister Najib Razak, have called for some of the conditions of the i-Sinar scheme to be removed.
The EPF said tonight that eight million eligible EPF members would receive automatic approval, without the need to provide supporting documents, to make withdrawals from their pension fund from Account 1.
Two categories of contributors are eligible to withdraw RM10,000 each from Account 1.
Category I includes workers in the formal sector; Free-lancers; workers in the informal economy; members who have not contributed for a long time; who have lost their jobs; Housewives or members notified of unpaid leave.
The EPF said tonight that a “substantial portion” of the fund’s eight million eligible members are in Category 1.
Members must not have made contributions to EPF for at least two consecutive months at the time of application; or members who are still working but have suffered a base salary cut of at least 30% after March.
For this category, no supporting documents are required and approval is automatic.
Category II is for members who are still working but have suffered an overall drop of at least 30% in earnings, including cuts in wages and benefits, or cuts in overtime claims, after March.
