Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members can now apply for i-Lestari (Account 2 withdrawal) via the newly launched, hassle-free i-Lestari online facility.

The facility offers a much-improved experience, as members can now easily apply, check on their application status and access the frequently asked questions via the website on computers and mobile devices with Internet browsers.

“We quickly realised after we launched i-Lestari in early April that the process for applications was quite complicated and caused a lot of confusion.

“On top of that, many of our members had not set up their i-Akaun through which i-Lestari was being mainly processed and this made the application process even more difficult,” chief officer Alizakri Alias said in a statement today.

The i-Lestari scheme allowed depositors to withdraw up to RM500 a month from their EPF Account 2 between April to March next year.

This was part of Putrajaya's stimulus measures announced by interim Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad on Feb 28. 

He also said the EPF took the very difficult decision to close its branches in March to ensure the continued safety of the members, employers and staff and moved services and transactions, including i-Lestari withdrawal applications, to the digital platforms.

The fund has received more than 1.4 million applications for i-Lestari withdrawal as at 6 pm, April 13.

This high number of applications has resulted in the EPF’s i-Akaun portal averaging 60,000-70,000 requests per minute, a 15-fold increase from the usual 4,000-7,000 web requests per minute on a typical day.

The EPF has also recorded an average of 20,000 daily emails enquiring about the facility. To date, over 700,000 applications have been approved and payments will be credited starting from May 4, 2020.

- Bernama