- NEW DELHI — The Centre on Thursday announced two key reforms in the Employees’
Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) claim settlement process that would
significantly reduce grievances related to claim rejections.
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- The EPFO has dispensed with the requirement of uploading
an image of a cheque leaf or attested bank passbook while filing online claims,
which would benefit over 7.7 crore members.
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- According to the government, this requirement was
initially relaxed on a pilot basis for certain KYC-updated members. Since its
launch on May 28, 2024, the move has already benefited 1.7 crore EPFO members.
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- Following the successful pilot, the EPFO has now extended
this relaxation to all members, said the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
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- As the bank account holder’s name is already verified
with the EPFO member’s details at the time of bank account seeding with the
Universal Account Number (UAN), this additional documentation is no longer
necessary.
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- "Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, the EPFO
continues its reform journey. Two major reforms have been introduced to make
the claim settlement process simpler, faster, and hassle-free for crores of EPF
members and employers," Union Minister of Labour and Employment Dr Mansukh
Mandaviya said.
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- To streamline the process of seeding bank accounts with
UAN, the EPFO has also removed the requirement of employer approval after bank
verification.
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- Currently, every member is required to seed his/her Bank
Account with UAN in order to get their PF withdrawals seamlessly credited to
such account.
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- During FY 2024-25, 1.3 crore members submitted their
requests for seeding their bank accounts and the requests after due matching
with the respective Bank/NPCI are to be approved by the Employer through
DSC/E-Sign.
