EPFO eases claim process; cancelled cheque, bank account verification by employers not needed

New Delhi: Retirement fund body EPFO on Thursday said applicants seeking withdrawal from provident funds online do not have to upload the image of a cancelled cheque and their bank accounts need not be verified by employers.

The move is expected to fast-track claim settlement process for nearly eight crore members and ensure ease of doing business for employers.

At present, members of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), while applying for withdrawal of funds from PF accounts online, need to upload image of cheque leaf or attested photo copy of the passbook of the bank account seeded with the UAN (Universal Account Number) or PF number. The employers are also required to approve the bank account details of the applicant.

The EPFO has completely dispensed with the requirement of uploading an image of a cheque leaf or attested bank passbook while filing online claims, the labour ministry said in a statement.

These two steps have been done away with to ensure 'ease of living' for EPF members and 'ease of doing business' for employers. These measures will significantly streamline the process of claim settlement and reduce grievances related to claim rejections, it stated.

These requirement were initially relaxed on a pilot basis for certain KYC-updated members. Since the pilot launch on May 28, 2024, the move has already benefited 1.7 crore EPF members. Following the successful pilot, EPFO has now extended this relaxation to all members, the ministry said.

Since the bank account is already verified along with the EPF members' details at the time of seeding of bank accounts with the UAN, this additional documentation is no longer necessary, it said, adding, this will eliminate the possibility of claim rejections due to poor-quality/unreadable uploads and reduce associated grievances.

During the financial year 2024-25, 1.3 crore members submitted requests for seeding their bank accounts and the requests after due matching with the respective bank/NPCI are to be approved by the employer through DSC/E-Sign. It is seen that around 36,000 requests for seeding of bank account are being raised by the members on a daily basis and the banks take an average of 3 days to complete the verification.

However, after the bank account verification, the average time taken by the employer to approve the process is about 13 days resulting in piling up of workload at the level of the employer and consequent delay in the seeding of bank account for the member.

Out of 7.74 crore members who are presently contributing each month, already 4.83 crore members have seeded their bank accounts with UAN with 14.95 lakh approvals are pending at the level of employers.

Since the need for employers' approval is no longer required, this will immediately benefit over 14.95 lakh members whose approvals are pending with the employers.

According to the statement, the simplified process will also facilitate those who want to change their already seeded bank account by entering their new bank account number along with the IFSC code duly authenticated through Aadhaar-based OTP.