New Delhi, March 17 (IANS). Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has settled a record 2.16 crore auto claim in the current financial year (till 6 March). The figure was 89.52 lakhs in the entire financial year 2023-24. This information was given by the government on Monday in Parliament.
Union Minister of State for Labor and Employment Shobha Karandalaje told in a written reply in the Lok Sabha that more than 99.31 percent of claims are now being received online and there is no need to go to the regional office for this.
FY 2024-25 (till 6 March) 7.14 crore claims have been deposited through online medium.
The government has increased the limit of claim settlement through auto to Rs 1 lakh.
Apart from this, apart from advances or hospitalization, advance for housing, education and marriage is also being given through auto medium. Now 60 percent of the advance claim is processed in auto mode.
According to the EPFO, the claims from auto mode are paid within three days.
The EPFO has also provided de-linking facilities to the members whose EPF accounts have been incorrectly/fraudulently linked by institutions.
Karandalaje said, “Since its launch on 18.01.2025, more than 55,000 members have de-lured their accounts by the end of February 2025.”
The government is continuously working to facilitate the claim in EPFO.
For this, the new system ‘EPFO 3.0’ is going to come soon. After this, members can withdraw the money from the provident fund (PF) account from the ATM like the bank.
Earlier this month, Union Labor Minister Mansukh Mandavia had said that the new system would be convenient like banking. It will provide many digital features, which will make the transaction easier.
The EPFO 3.0 will be an advanced version of the current system. It is designed to make the process of clearance faster and user-friendly.
Members will be able to withdraw their PF money through ATMs like withdrawing cash from the bank account. EPFO members will be able to manage their accounts using their universal account number (UAN). It is not yet clear what will be the limit of PF withdrawal from ATM.
-IANS
ABS/