In a major move aimed at improving the ease of living for millions of workers, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has decided to increase the auto settlement limit for advance claims from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh.
This enhancement will significantly speed up the withdrawal process and benefit around 7.5 crore EPFO members across the country.
The decision was taken during the 113th meeting of the Executive Committee (EC) of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), held last week in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.
The meeting, attended by Central Provident Fund Commissioner Ramesh Krishnamurthi, saw Labour and Employment Secretary Sumita Dawra approving the proposal. The final approval will now be sought from the CBT, after which members will be able to avail the increased withdrawal limit.
The auto settlement mode for advance claims was first introduced in April 2020, specifically for medical emergencies. Since then, EPFO has been expanding this facility to include more categories such as education, marriage, and housing.
This digital automation has streamlined the process, ensuring that 95 per cent of claims are now processed within three days.
EPFO’s automation efforts have led to record-high claim settlements, with 2.16 crore auto-claims processed as of March 6, 2025, marking a significant rise from 89.52 lakh in 2023-24. The claim rejection ratio has also been reduced from 50 per cent last year to 30 per cent, offering further relief to EPFO members.
The latest changes are part of EPFO’s broader digital transformation initiative. The claim validation process has already been simplified, with the number of verification steps reduced from 27 to 18.
In the recent meeting, a decision was taken to bring this number down further to just six, ensuring faster approvals.
Another significant development is the planned integration of Provident Fund (PF) withdrawals with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has approved a recommendation from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to allow PF withdrawals through UPI and ATMs.
This facility is expected to be rolled out by May or June 2025 and could later be extended to other schemes such as the General Provident Fund (GPF) and the Public Provident Fund (PPF).
With the increasing use of digital tools, EPFO is set to make the withdrawal process faster and more efficient, ensuring that members can access their savings with minimal delays.
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