Labour minister asks EPFO to settle claims in time

Union Labour and Employment Minister Sis Ram Ola on Tuesday asked Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) to settle provident fund claims in time by giving priority to the timely settlement of claims for provident fund.

The minister had a meeting with the senior officers of the organization and discussed the issue.

He said that improvement and availability of technology has made citizens expect an efficient and transparent mechanism in its settlement of claims. EPFO has a mandate to settle all the claims within 30 days of its receipt.

Officials brought to the minister’s notice that the EPFO receives 12.74 lakh applications for settlement every month. It expects to receive 152.87 lakh claim settlements in the current financial year.

Due to consistent monitoring, the number of claims pending for settlement beyond 30 days has reduced drastically.

EPFO has reported a settlement of 60 per cent within 3 days of its receipt in as many as 20 offices. This month,three new offices have also started processing similar figures in the same amount of time.