ON Monday, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) released the new and improved mechanism to allow members to utilise their retirement savings held in Account 1 of their EPF account under a new programme named i-Sinar. This, of course, came about after much pressure from all walks of life, including both sides of the political divide, as the RM6,000 withdrawal announced earlier under Budget 2021 was only meant for the about 600,000 employees that have lost their jobs.
With the new mechanism, it is estimated that some two million members will be eligible to receive an advance from their savings in the EPF that is held in Account 1, as the scope of eligible members have now been expanded to active members who are given no-pay leave or have no other source of income.