Reforms in EPFO: Due to ongoing reforms in the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, the payment of members’ claims has accelerated the pace of settlement of complaints. EPFO has settled a record of more than five crore claims in the current financial year so far, releasing more than Rs 2 lakh crore.
The second phase of reforms to serve EPFO members on the lines of state-of-the-art digital core banking is in the final stage and the third phase of reforms is likely to be completed in June-July. According to EPFO data, 5.08 crore claims were settled in 2024-25, the highest number ever in a year.
The total amount of settlement of these claims is more than Rs 2.05 lakh crore. While in the previous financial year 2023-24, 4.45 crore claims were settled, totalling more than Rs 1.82 lakh crore.
Labour Minister praises EPFO
Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya attributed this record of claims to the significant reforms made in EPFO and said that due to digital reforms, the process of settlement of claims has accelerated and complaints from members have come down. Referring to the major reforms in EPFO, he said that the limit and category of automatic claim payments have been increased.
EPFO members have been given the facility to correct the error related to their profile themselves. The PF transfer process has been simplified with less need for employer approval. Under automatic claim payment, the amount is credited to the member’s account within three days.
Automatic transfer of 44% PF accounts
Mandaviya said that the number of automatic claim payments in this financial year has doubled to 1.87 crore from 89.52 lakh last year. As a result of the formation of PF transfer by the government, 48 per cent of the claims are sent directly to the EPFO without the employer’s approval and 44 per cent of the PF accounts are automatically transferred. Employer approval is now required in only eight percent of cases.
Similarly, with regard to error correction, 97.18 corrections have now been made by the members themselves and only one percent of cases require the employer’s consent. EPF reforms have also drastically reduced the number of claims rejections and this year only 1.11 per cent of cases have been rejected by employers and 0.21 per cent by EPFO, making it clear that the new system has made settlement of claims easier and faster.