Deferring provident fund payment policy eases burdens

According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, enterprises affected by COVID-19 can apply to defer their housing provident fund payments and make supplementary payments upon expiration. During this period, employees who have paid and deposited can normally withdraw and apply for housing provident fund loans and will not be affected by the delayed payment.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, and the People's Bank of China recently issued the Notice on Implementing the Phased Support Policy of the Housing Provident Fund. The notice states that if depositors affected by the epidemic cannot repay the housing provident fund loan on time, it will not count as overdue and will not be reported to the credit reporting department as an overdue record.

According to local rent levels and assuming a reasonable rental area, each locality can increase the amount of their housing provident fund rental withdrawals and support depositors to withdraw on demand in order to meet the actual needs of depositors to pay rent.

In addition, the notice states that the implementation time limit of the above-mentioned support policies have been tentatively set to Dec 31 of this year. All local housing provident fund management centers should ensure the smooth operation of housing provident fund services during the epidemic through channels such as comprehensive service platforms.