In a significant move to enhance the Ease of Living for Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) members and improve the Ease of Doing Business for employers, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has introduced two major reforms in its claim settlement process. These changes aim to streamline operations and reduce claim rejections, the Ministry of Labour & Employment announced on Thursday.
No More Requirement to Upload Cheque Leaf or Attested Bank Passbook
EPFO has eliminated the need for members to upload an image of a cheque leaf or an attested bank passbook when filing online claims. Initially implemented as a pilot project for KYC-updated members, this reform has benefited 1.7 crore EPF members since its launch on May 28, 2024.
Following the success of the pilot, EPFO has now extended this relaxation to all members. Since the bank account holder’s name is already verified at the time of seeding with the Universal Account Number (UAN), this additional documentation is no longer required.
With this change, around 6 crore EPF members will immediately benefit, as it will eliminate claim rejections caused by poor-quality or unreadable uploads, reducing grievances and delays in claim processing.
Employer Approval No Longer Needed for Bank Account Seeding with UAN
To further simplify the process, EPFO has removed the requirement for employer approval when seeding bank accounts with UAN after bank verification.
Until now, EPF members had to link their bank accounts with UAN to receive seamless PF withdrawals. In FY 2024-25, 1.3 crore members submitted bank account seeding requests, which, after bank verification, required employer approval via Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) or E-Sign.
According to the Ministry of Labour & Employment, around 36,000 such requests are raised daily. While banks take an average of 3 days to complete verification, employers take around 13 days, leading to delays and a growing backlog. Currently, 14.95 lakh approvals are pending with employers, impacting millions of EPF members.
Out of 7.74 crore contributing members, 4.83 crore have already seeded their bank accounts with UAN. With this reform, EPFO has eliminated employer approval from the process, immediately benefiting 14.95 lakh pending cases.
Additionally, the change will simplify bank account updates, allowing members to enter a new account number and IFSC code, which will be verified through Aadhaar OTP authentication.
