EPFO pushes offices for 3-day settlement

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation   efforts to reduce the time for settlement of claims to just three days has seen a ten per cent increase in pace of settlement in 27 of its 120 offices in a single month.

The EPFO had put all its 120 offices under close monitoring this month and a review of their performance at the end of the month found a dramatic increase in the number of claims settled in three days by many of these offices, EPFO said today.

The number of claims pending for settlement beyond 30 days has reduced from 12,702 as on 03-07-2013 to only 5268 as on 26-07-2013. Efforts are being made even to bring down this number.

Labour & Employment Minister Sis Ram Ola said that the pace of settlement of claims has increased by more than 10% in as many as 27 of the offices.

EPFO receives  on an average 12.74 lakh applications for settlement every month. It is expected during the current financial year, 152.87 lakh claim settlements will be received.  

As on July 3 in 20 out of the 120 offices of EPFO, 60% of claims were settled within 3 days of its receipt . This month 3 new offices have also started processing more than 60% of the claims settled within 3 days, EPFO said today. The three new offices which could achieve this milestone are EPFO offices at Mysore Road, Surat  and Bharuch.

Minister has also appreciated that in some of the offices, each staff is settling more than 20 claims per day. The offices at Noida & Gurgaon top the list of the efficiency in terms of  number of disposal per staff. In each of these offices, 27 claims are being settled by each staff every day. The EPFO office in Allahabad for instance which was settling just five per cent of claims in three days settled 22 per cent of claims in three days a month later.