Circumstances in which withdrawals may be permitted .

68. (1) Withdrawals by employees may be allowed by the trustees of the provident fund in the following circumstances:—

(a) to pay expenses incurred in connection with the illness of the employee or a member of his family;

[(aa) meeting the cost of higher education, including, where necessary, the travelling expenses of any child of the employee actually dependent on him in the following cases, namely :—

(i) education outside India for academic, technical, professional or vocational courses beyond the [matriculation] stage, and

(ii) any medical, engineering or other technical or specialised course in India beyond the [matriculation stage];]

(b) to pay for the cost of passage to a place out of India of an employee or any member of his family;

(c) to pay expenses in connection with marriages, funerals or ceremonies, which by the religion of the employee it is incumbent upon him to perform;

[(d) to meet the expenditure on building a house, or purchasing a site [or a house] or a house and a site and, in the case of an employee whose pay does not exceed rupees [five thousand] per month also on additions, substantial alterations or improvements necessary to a house:

Provided that the employee furnishes an undertaking to the trustees not to encumber or alienate such house or site [or such house and site] or house and site, as the case may be:

[Provided further that in the case of an employee whose pay does not exceed rupees [five thousand] per month, such house or site or such house and site shall not be deemed to be an encumbered property merely because such house or site or such house and site is—

(i) mortgaged, solely for having obtained funds for the purchase of the said house or site or the said house and site or for the building of such house to any of the following agencies, namely, (a) the Central Government; (b) a State Government; (c) a co-operative society, being a society registered or deemed to be registered under the Co-operative Societies Act, 1912, or under any other law for the time being in force in any State relating to co-operative societies; (d) an institution; (e) a trust; (f) a local body; or (g) a housing finance corporation; or

(ii) held in the name of any of the aforesaid agencies and the employee is precluded from transferring or otherwise disposing of that house or site or that house and site without the prior approval of such agency.]

Explanation : For the purposes of this clause, "pay" shall have the meaning assigned to it in the Explanation to sub-rules (2A) and (2B) of rule 69;]

[(dd) for repayment of loan previously raised for the purpose of construction or purchase of a house;]

(e) to pay premia on policies of insurance on the life of the employee or of his wife provided that the policy is assigned to the trustees of the Fund or at their discretion deposited with them and that the receipts granted by the insurance company for the premia are from time to time handed over to the trustees for inspection by the [Assessing Officer];

(f) to meet the cost of legal proceedings instituted by the employee for vindicating his position in regard to any allegations made against him in respect of any act done or purporting to be done by him in the discharge of his official duty or to meet the cost of his defence when he is prosecuted by the employer in any court of law in respect of any official misconduct on his part:

Provided that the advance under this clause shall not be admissible to an employee who institutes legal proceedings in any court of law either in respect of any matter unconnected with his official duty or against the employer in respect of any condition of service or penalty imposed on him;

[(g) to meet the expenses of the damage caused to the movable or immovable property of the employee as a direct result of—

(i) flood, cyclone, earthquake or other convulsion of nature; or

(ii) riot;]

[(h) in the case of an employee whose pay does not exceed rupees [five thousand] per month,—

(i) to meet his household expenses if a factory or other establishment, wherein he is working, is locked up or closed down for more than fifteen days for reasons other than a strike rendering him unemployed without any compensation or if he is not in receipt of wages for a continuous period of two months or more;

(ii) to meet his household expenses if the factory or other establishment wherein he is working, suffers cut in supply of electricity resulting in a loss of one-fourth or more of the total wages of the employee;

(iii) to meet the cost of purchasing an equipment required by a physically handicapped employee which will minimise his hardship on account of the handicap;

[(iv) to meet his household expenses where the employee is discharged or dismissed or retrenched by the employer and such discharge, dismissal or retrenchment, as the case may be, is challenged by the employee in any court or tribunal and the case is pending in that court or tribunal.]

Explanation : For the purposes of this clause, "pay" shall have the meaning assigned to it in the Explanation to sub-rules (2A) and (2B) of rule 69.]

(2) For the purposes of sub-rule (1), "family" means any of the following persons who are wholly dependent on the employee, namely:— the employee's wife, legitimate children, step-children, parents, sisters and minor brothers.