EPFO raises the bar, settles 10.62 lakh claims in August

Retirement funds body EPFO settled 10.62 lakh claims like PF withdrawal and transfer in August, and of this, 97.29 per cent were settled within the mandated 20 days.
"EPFO settled 10.62 lakh claims in August 2015. Out of this, 97.29 per cent were settled within 20 days," the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) said in a press release here.
EPFO has recently reduced the mandated time for settlement of various claims like PF withdrawal and transfer to 20 days, from the earlier 30 days.
The Central Provident Fund Commissioner, K K Jalan, termed the achievement as "note-worthy" as the mandate for settling claims within 20 days as against 30 days was amended only in July this year.

"Within this short span of time, EPFO has been able to adapt itself to the new timeline. With this, the total number of claims settled by the organisation in the current fiscal rose to 55.53 lakh," he said.
During August, 80 per cent of the total PF contribution deposited by establishments came through the Net banking mode.

It said the work relating to the Universal Account Number (UAN) is on in full swing and by the month end, the number of persons with activated UANs crossed the 1.6 crore mark.
Such members can avail of superior services, including SMS based information regarding deposit of monthly PF contribution by the employer, an updated passbook and portability of an account.

It further said that in a major decision, it was decided to engage EdCil India for streamlining recruitment at subordinate levels in EPFO. This is expected to give a fillip to hiring in various subordinate cadres in the organisation.
To ensure that grievances are attended to and disposed of on top priority, EPFO is considering introducing new timelines as well.
Under the same, as a general rule, grievances are to be resolved in seven days.
During the month, EPFO had redressed 19,878 grievances, leaving only 2,986 pending across the country.