Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has implemented a series of reforms designed to make EPFO services faster, more transparent, and user-friendly for all stakeholders. These initiatives are part of EPFO’s commitment to delivering hassle-free, secure, and efficient services to all stakeholders. EPFO has recently issued circulars to simplify KYC or member details correction and submission of transfer claims, deploy functionality for Auto settlement of advance claims up to Rs. 1 lakh, and implement a Centralised Pension Payment System (CPPS) to simplify the Pension disbursement process.
The limit of the Auto Claim settlement facility was enhanced to Rs. 1 lakh for Advances under Illness, Housing, Marriage & Education, resulting in 2.34 Crore claims settled in auto mode in FY 2024-25. The Transfer claim process has also been simplified w.e.f. 15.01.2025 by removing the requirement of employer approvals in most cases.
The Online facility provided for member profile correction has been simplified using Aadhaar authentication. In most cases, the dependency on the employer and EPFO for member profile correction has been eliminated. The Online de-linking facility has enabled members to delink the wrong member ID from their UAN, reducing grievances.
The Allotment and activation of UANS are done through the UMANG app using Face Authentication Technology (FAT). By availing themselves of this facility, the member gains immediate access to EPFO services such as passbook viewing, KYC updates, claim submission, etc.
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EPFO has removed the requirement of uploading the image of cheque leaf/attested bank passbook to speed up the settlement of claims filed online and reduce claim rejections. Also, the requirement of Employer approval for seeding bank account details with UAN has been removed from April 2025.
However, it has been observed that several cybercafe operators/fintech companies are charging EPFO members large sums of money for services that are officially free. In many cases, these operators simply use the EPFO’s online grievance portal, something any member can do on their own, free of cost, from the comfort of their homes. The stakeholders are cautioned against visiting or engaging with third-party companies or agents for EPFO-related services, as this may expose their financial data to third-party entities. EPFO does not authorise these external entities and may charge unnecessary fees or compromise the security of members' personal information.
EPFO has a robust grievance monitoring and redressal system wherein the member grievances are registered on CPGRAMS or EPFiGMS portals and are monitored till their resolution in a time-bound manner. A total of 16,01,202 grievances were received in EPFiGMS and 1,74,328 in CPGRAMS in FY 2024-25. Out of these, 98% of the grievances were redressed within timelines. EPFO strongly advises all its members, employers, and pensioners to utilise the online services available through the EPFO portal and the UMANG app. All EPFO services, including claim filing, transfers, KYC updation, and grievance process, are entirely free of cost, and members should not pay any fees to third-party agents or cyber cafes for services that can be easily accessed online. Further, the members can contact EPFO helpdesks/PROs at regional offices, as listed on the official website (www.epfindia.gov.in), with any issues. EPFO remains committed to empowering India’s workforce with world-class, technology-driven social security services.