EPFO : As a major attempt to make life easier for members and smoothen operations, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has made some important changes to simplify the claim settlement process.
These changes are not only going to bring relief to almost eight crore active members and lakhs of employers by cutting down on paperwork and outlandish steps, but it will also speed up the entire process.’
The reforms are an important step in the long evolution of FIFA as it seeks to become more effective, more flexible, more professional, more transparent and more accountable.
EPFO Automation Takes Center Stage
Quite an achievement the EPFO’s automated claim settlement process, is doing about 60% of advance claims, now in the auto mode.
The majority of the claims are being settled in three days’ time, which is a significant reduction in the waiting period for policyholders.
As of March 6, 2025, it had settled a whopping 2.16 crore auto-claims — a significant improvement compared to 89.52 lakh auto-claims settled in 2023-24.
Auto-mode processing, earlier available only for medical emergencies, is also being extended to advances for housing, education and marriage. 415 This broadening has had a beneficial effect on the adjudication of claims.
EPFO No cheque upload necessary any more
And perhaps the most heartening of them all – the EPFO has done away with the need for members to upload cheque leaf images or attested bank passbooks at the time of poweing online claims.
That requirement, which frequently resulted in claims being rejected for low-quality uploads, is no longer in place.
This revision was introduced on May 28, 2024 as a pilot for KYC-updated members benefitting 1.7 crore EPF members. Now, after its implementation, EPFO has all members benefited from it.
The reason for such a move is easy to understand- the Name of the bank account holder is validated as he seeds with the UAN, it is unnecessary to demand for him to repeat the same in some other format.
This streamlining means it’s quicker and easier for all members to access the withdrawals.
EPFO No More Employer Endorsement Needed
Another major reform is the abolition of employer’s consent for seeding bank account details with the UAN after validation with the bank.
Earlier, EPF subscribers were required to seed their bank account with UAN to complete their PF withdrawals, which required the employer’s approval through Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) or E-Sign after the bank verification.
As per the data provided by the Ministry of Labour & Employment around 36,000 demands are being raised on daily basis.
Where banks are taking an average of 3 days to clear verification, employers were averaging about 13 days, and there was increasing delay to process and expanding queue.
The new, streamlined process also makes it easier to make changes for members who are just looking to update their already seeded bank accounts.
Now members may provide only new bank account number & IFSC through KUA which is verified via Aadhaar OTP.
EPFO Correction of own details
The correction of personal information is now one of the easiest tasks for those members whose UAN is Aadhaar-verified.
Now, Members can correct the IDs on their own and does not require to walk in to the EPFO offices. This enhancement has resulted in around 96% of the corrections being done by the members automatically.
Simplified PF Transfer
The PF transfer process has also been simplified – employers are not required to attest UANs which are Aadhaar verified in case of transfer claims of PF. Today, there are only 10% of transfer claims that need member and employer certification.
De-linking Facility for Wrongly Linked Accounts
EPFO has launched de-linking facility for members in case their EPF accounts were incorrectly linked with their UAN by their employers.
Since it began on January 18, 2025, over 55,000 members have been able to successfully de-link their accounts by the end of February 2025.
Front-Stuffing Verifications to Avoid Ineligible Claims
New up-front verifications have been introduced to keep members informed of the validity and acceptance of claims before they are submitted.
That way members don’t submit improper claims, which can help make the system more accurate.
EPFO A Better Way To Enhance Efficiency With centralized system
The settlement process has been enhanced through Centralization of IT Enabled System (CITES 2.01), which have centralized member data and increased efficiency of the entire process.
NextGeneration Devices in the Pipeline
Going forward, EPFO is working to bring even more convenient ways for its members.
Around May or June 2025, you can expect some good news when the body is likely to bring about a significant change in which PF members can withdraw their IPF accounts through UPI and ATMs.
This upgrade will add a new pool so users can access their funds for housing, education, marriage, medical and other emergencies quickly – to make things quicker and easier, for everyone.
To ensure that the new technologies are not compromised by security threats, EPFO has upgraded its security using software upgrades, state-of-the-art firewalls, security audits and cyber security awareness training.
EPFO Consolidated Pension Payment System
By December 2024, Government has rolled out the Centralised Pension Payment System (CPPS).
The process also helps in ensuring timely payment to more than 69 lakh pensioners in the countryAFP|Oct 23, 2020, 08.33 PM IST
Effect on Members and Employers
These are combined reforms that benefit both the EPF members as well as the employers. For its members, the changes will also lead to faster claim settlements, less paperwork and fewer opportunities to reject claims.
For Employers: The ease of doing business for employer For employers, the Employee Provident Fund New Reforms means reduced administrative complexities thereby being able to focus on their core activity i.e., the business in hand.
Now over 99.31% services by EPFO are available online even without visiting EPFO offices and to transform EPFO into a “future-ready” organisation, technology led initiatives are the key driver for accelerating the disposition of services to all its stakeholders under the “EPFO 3.0 – Mission Consolidation”.
The membership of the organisation has risen substantially with the number of member accounts in EPFO rising from 11.78 crore in FY 2014-15 to 32.56 crore as on March 7, 2025. Such reforms are overdue, and are needed to control this growing user population effectively.”
EPFO Conclusion
The easy claim settlement process is a further step towards EPFO’s improvement in services and providing tech savvy services to it’s members which puts an end to tedious processes for PF settlement.”
The EPFO has simplified and made the processes transparent benefitting lakhs of Indians through technology in the form of “onestop shop” by improving the ease of doing business.
As the reforms keep being rolled out and new features keep getting added, EPFO members can expect the process of managing their provident fund accounts and withdrawing their money when required to become a smooth process.