The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has implemented several measures to streamline the claim settlement process, processing 2.16 crore auto claims in the current financial year up to March 6, 2025. This marks a significant increase from the 89.52 lakh claims settled in FY 2023-24, the Parliament was informed on Monday.
Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Shobha Karandlaje, stated in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that the limit for auto-mode processing of advance claims has been raised to ₹1 lakh. Additionally, advances for housing, education, and marriage, along with illness and hospitalisation, are now processed in auto mode. Currently, 60 per cent of advance claims are being settled through auto-mode processing, with claims typically processed within three days.
The minister further informed that the member details correction process has been simplified. Members with Aadhaar-verified Universal Account Numbers (UANs) can now make corrections to their identification details without EPFO intervention. Presently, about 96 per cent of such corrections are being completed without any involvement from EPF offices.
Karandlaje also said that over 99.31 per cent of claims are currently submitted online, eliminating the need for members to visit field offices. In the financial year 2024-25, as of March 6, 7.14 crore claims have been filed in online mode.
In the case of transfer claim submissions, employer attestation of Aadhaar-verified UANs has been removed, and now only 10 per cent of transfer claims require both member and employer attestation. Additionally, the requirement of submitting a cheque leaf with the claim form has been relaxed for KYC-compliant UANs that meet prescribed criteria.
EPFO has also enabled members to de-link EPF accounts that were erroneously or fraudulently linked by establishments. Since the launch of this facility on January 18, 2025, more than 55,000 members have de-linked their accounts as of the end of February 2025.
To assist members in submitting eligible claims, certain upfront validations have been implemented to provide guidance regarding eligibility and admissibility.
The minister added that the claim settlement process is being further simplified with the centralisation of member databases under the Centralised IT Enabled System (CITES 2.01).
