IREC Rule No.925(1): Final Withdrawal From Provident Fund For House Building
925(1). Final Withdrawal From Provident Fund For House Building: Withdrawal may be restricted for house building purposes on the following terms and conditions: –
(a) The withdrawal may be either for the purpose of building or acquiring a suitable house or ready built flat for residence, including the cost of the site for re-payment of any outstanding amount on account of loans expressly taken for the purpose or any payments towards allotment of a plot or flat by the Delhi Development Authority, State Housing Board or House Building Societies and Indian Railway Welfare Organization (lRWO).
Note: In cases where a subscriber has to pay in installments for a site or a house or flat purchased or a house or flat constructed through the DDA or a State Housing Board or House Building Cooperative Societies and Indian Railway Welfare Organization, he shall be permitted to make a withdrawal as and when he is called upon to make a payment in any installment subject to the condition that the amount of withdrawal does not exceed the amount actually subscribed by the subscriber along with interest thereon standing to his credit in the fund at the time of each withdrawal. Every such payment shall be treated as a payment for a separate purpose.
(b) Withdrawals shall not exceed;
(i) The amount actually subscribed by him along with interest thereon standing to his credit, or
(ii) The actual cost of the house including the cost of site or repayment of the loan in that behalf, whichever is less. Provided that in no case the maximum amount of withdrawal for the purposes specified in Rules 925(1) and 925(2) shall exceed the maximum limit prescribed from time to time under Rules 2(a) and 3(b) of the scheme of the Ministry of Works and Housing for the grant of advances for house building purposes.
[Authority: No.F(E)III/80/PF-1/2, 31.07.1980]
If the amount withdrawn exceed the actual expenditure or repayment, as aforesaid, the excess shall be refunded to Government forthwith in one lump sum together with interest thereon at the rate provided for in Rule 920(1), from the month of the withdrawal, for being credited to his account in the Provident Fund. The actual expenditure incurred in connection with the sale or transfer deeds may be reckoned as part of the cost of the house.
(iii) In the case of a subscriber who has availed himself of an advance under the scheme of the Ministry of Works and Housing for the grant of advance for house-building purposes, or has been allowed any assistance in this regard from any other Government source, the sum withdrawn under this sub-rule together with the amount of advance taken under the aforesaid Scheme or the assistance taken from any other Government source shall not exceed the maximum limit prescribed from time to time under rules 2(a) and 3(b ) of the aforesaid Scheme.
[Authority: No.F(E)III/80/PF-1/2, 31.07.1980]
(c) The house proposed to be acquired or redeemed by the railway servant with the help of the amount withdrawn, as aforesaid, shall be situated at the place of his duty or his intended place of residence after retirement.
(d) A withdrawal shall be permissible for the building, acquisition or redemption of one house only, provided the railway servant does not already own a house at the place referred to in clause (c) above.
Note:
(1) Withdrawal may also be permitted for reconstructing / renovating or for making additions of alterations or for upkeep of an ancestral house at a place other than the place of duty provided the amount of withdrawal does not exceed the limits mentioned in clause (b) or Rs.10000 whichever is less and provided further that the competent authority is satisfied that the reconstruction / renovation etc. are necessary for the railway servant’s reasonable comfort and are not being made by him for purposes of letting out the building.
(2) Withdrawal may also be allowed for reconstructing / renovating or making additions or alterations to a house or f1at already owned or acquired by a subscriber, with or without the assistance of a withdrawal / loan from SRPF or other Government source, up to 90% of the amount subscribed by him along with interest thereon standing to his credit and also subject to the limits laid down in clause (b) provided that the competent authority is satisfied, that the reconstruction/renovation are necessary for the railway servant’s reasonable comfort and are not being made by him for the purpose of letting out the building.
(3) A second final withdrawal may also be allowed for the above purposes in respect of a house / flat acquired with the help of a withdrawal already made or which may be made in future from the provident fund or other Govt. sources subject to the condition that the total of both withdrawals does not exceed the amount actually subscribed by the Railway servant along with interest thereon as it stood at his credit in the end at the time of the first withdrawal. The second withdrawal should not exceed 90% of the amount subscribed by him along with interest thereon standing to his credit subject also to the limits laid down in clause (b) above.
(e) The construction of the house should be commenced within 6 months of withdrawal of money and should be completed within a period of one year from the date of commencement of construction; if, however, the house is to be purchased or redeemed or a private loan previously raised for the purpose has to be repaid, this should be done within 3 months of the withdrawals;
Note: The sanctioning authority may at their discretion, relax the limit of 6 months prescribed above for commencement of the house to one year.
(f) In the case of construction of a house withdrawal will be permitted only in equal installments (not less than 2 and not more than 4), the installments after the first being authorized by the administrative authority after verification regarding progress of construction of the house.
Note: While authorizing the disbursement of the second and subsequent installments, as prescribed above the administrative authority shall attach a certificate to the effect that the required formalities in regard to the construction of the house, in pursuance of which the installment has become due, have been complied with.
(g) The railway servant shall submit an annual declaration in the prescribed form on or before the 31st December in each year and satisfy the sanctioning authority if called upon to do so, by the production of tax receipts, title-deeds, etc., that the house remains in his sole ownership and that while he is still in service, he has not parted with the possession thereof by way of transfer, sale, mortgage, (other than mortgage to the President), gift, exchange lease for a term exceeding 3 years or otherwise howsoever without the previous permission of the sanctioning authority in writing. Provided that such permission shall not be necessary for its being mortgaged in favor of a Housing Board, the Life Insurance Corporation or any other Corporation own or controlled by the Central Government which advances loans for the construction of a new house, or for making additions or alterations to an existing house.
[Authority: No.F(E)III /74PF2/6, 06.12.1974]
In the case of a railway servant who has availed of a loan from Government for house building purposes it should be certified that the house / house site for the construction of which he had taken a final withdrawal from the Provident Fund continues to be in his possessions and it stands mortgaged to Government.
[Authority: No.F(E)III/69 PF-1/4, 19.05.1969]
The amount withdrawn shall be repayable forthwith in one installment together with interest thereon at the rate provided for in Rule 920(1), from the month of the withdrawal, for being credited to his account in the Provident Fund, if the house is sold or encumbered at any time before retirement without such permission.
(h) The administrative authority should satisfy itself that;
(i) The amount is actually required for the purpose of building, acquiring or redeeming a house, as mentioned above;
(ii) The railway servant possesses or intends to acquire forthwith the right to build on the site on which the house is proposed to be built;
(iii) The amount withdrawn together with such other private saving, if any, as the railway servant may have, would be sufficient to build, acquire or redeem the house of the type proposed;
(iv) The applicant has submitted a plan of the house to be constructed or of the additions or alterations to be made duly approved by the local Municipal body of the area where the site or the house is situated and also has permits, where necessary, from the local authorities for the purchase of building materials to the extent required and at controlled rates.
Note: A withdrawal for additions and alterations would be admissible only where such additions or alterations require approval of the local municipal body.
[Authority: No.F(E)III-77 PF-1/3, 27.05.1977]
(v) In the case of withdrawal for the purchase of a ready built house the applicant secures an undisputed title to the house and the land on which the house is built within a period of 3 months from the date of drawal of the amount. This condition does not preclude withdrawals for the purpose of building houses on plots of land on lease or purchasing houses constructed on lease land by the Central or State Government, as the case may be, on production of a certificate from the concerned authority that the building on the plot leased has been built in accordance with the agreed conditions.
[Authority: No.F(E)III/69 PF-1/4, 19.05.1969]
Government Of India’s Decision: Subject to other conditions being satisfied, withdrawals may be permitted also for acquiring on ownership basis a flat in a building, even though the flat and the land on which it is built, do not become the property of the railway servant concerned, provided that the railway servant produces within 3 months of the receipt of the amount a proof to the effect that;
(a) He has made payment for the flat:
(b) He has become a member of the Limited Company, Society or any other incorporated body (recognized in law) formed by the purchasers of the flats in the building; and
(c) The builder has transferred the legal title of the building to the said Company, Society or incorporated body.
[Authority: No.F(E) III/73 PF-1/11, 10.12.1973]
(vi) Before withdrawals are permitted for the repayment of loan taken from private parties expressly for the purpose of acquiring a house, the applicant has acquired or will acquire an un-encumbered title to the house thus acquired.
Note: The Railway servant should, however, produce necessary deeds and papers to the sanctioning authority proving his title in respect of the property within a period of three months of the drawal at of the amount.
(vii) The applicant has signed an undertaking in the prescribed form.
[Authority: No.F(E)III/77/PF-1/3, 27.05.1977 & 26.11.1977]
Government Of India’s Decision:
(1) Railway servants who have availed themselves of an advance under the scheme of the Ministry of Works and Housing for house-building purposes or have been allowed any assistance in this regard from any other Government source, shall be e1igible for the grant of withdrawal under this rule and also for the purpose of repayment of any loan taken the aforesaid scheme subject to the limit specified in clause (b) of this sub-rule. In the case of withdrawals for repayment of loans, where the amount sanctioned is less than the loan taken under the above scheme for house building purposes, the provisions of clause (g) of this rule will not be enforced since it is already provided in that scheme that the house for the construction of which a loan is taken should be mortgaged to Government. However, where such loan is completely repaid at any time during the service the railway servant concerned, the provision of clause (g) shall become operative and the authorities competent to sanction a final withdrawal should ensure that these provisions are invariably complied with, as and when necessary.
(2) Railway servants who had already drawn refundable advances for house building purposes under the orders contained in the Ministry of Finance Office Memorandum No.F-50(14) EV51, 30.07.1951 or No.F50 (12)EV/52, 26.05.1952, as amended from time to time and who are eligible to avail of the concessions under this sub-rule, the outstanding balance of the advances can be converted into final withdrawal on satisfying the conditions necessary for the grant of such withdrawals.
[Authority: No.F(E)54 ADV. 3/1, 09.06.1959]
Note-1: If a railway servant has an ancestral house or a built house at a place other than the place of his duty with the assistance of loans taken from the Government, he shall be eligible for the grant of a final withdrawal under this Rule for purchase of a house site or for construction of another house or for acquiring a ready built flat at the place of his duty.
Note-2: Withdrawal under this Rule shall also be allowed where the house site or the house is in the name of wife or husband provided she or he is the first nominee to receive Provident Fund money in the nomination made by the subscriber.
[Authority: No.F(E)III/77/PF-1/3, 27.05.1977 & 26.11.1977]