EPFO settles nearly half of all claims within three days this fiscal

Retirement fund body EPFO settled nearly 50 per cent of claims, mainly withdrawal, within three days of filing this fiscal, a senior official said quoting data till June 5.

The official stated that the proportion of such settled claims was about 39 per cent in 2024-25 at 2.34 crore.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has settled 68.96 lakh claims within 3 days between April 1, 2025 to June 5, 2025.

The proportion of the claims settled within three days is expected to rise exponentially as EPFO will soon enhance the limit of automated claims settlement to Rs 5 lakh from the existing Rs 1 lakh, the official said.

The official also said that the limit hike does not require approval of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the apex decision making body of EPFO.

The official further explained that it can be done by the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, the executive head of EPFO.

The CBT is headed by the Union Labour & Employment Minister with employers and trade union representatives on its board among others.

Presently, all eligible withdrawal claims of up to Rs 1 lakh are settled under automated mode provided all required conditions are met.

EPFO advance claims of up to Rs 1 lakh were settled in just 3 days for illness, education, housing and marriage.

EPFO's ultimate goal is to settle all sort of claims like pension, group insurance and EPF withdrawal within 72 hours of filing it.

The official said that the body is working on ways to deal with legacy data which delays the process of claim settlement.

The official explains that it takes time to verify claims of those members who were enrolled under the scheme before 2012. EPFO selected over 5 crore claims in 2024-25 and automated claim settlement can reduce work load tremendously and improve delivery of services to beneficiaries.

EPFO has over seven crore contributing members.