EPFO
claims: The
Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation
announced an
auto claim settlement
system for education, marriage, and housing on Monday. As per an ET report, EPFO claims for these purposes will be processed automatically by the
IT system
, benefiting over 60 million subscribers.
Initially launched in April 2020 for illness-related advances, EPFO has stated that the auto mode of claim settlement has now been extended to cover all claims under para 68K (education and marriage) and 68B (housing) of the
EPF Scheme
, 1952.
Additionally, EPFO has increased the limit for illness-related claims from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000.
EPFO said in a statement, “The expansion of the scope of the auto claims to the housing, marriage and education purposes as well as enhancement will directly help many members to avail their funds within the shortest possible duration, which will substantially aid them in promptly meeting their education, marriage, or housing requirements.”
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EPFO expects about 22.5 million members to benefit from this facility this year. During the fiscal year 2023-24, EPFO settled approximately 44.5 million claims. Of these, over 60%, or 28.4 million claims, were advance claims. Among the total advance claims settled, around 8.95 million claims were processed using the auto mode.
Under the auto settlement policy, claims meeting
KYC
, eligibility, and bank validation criteria are processed automatically by IT tools for payment. This significantly reduces the time taken for claim settlement, from 10 days to within three to four days for such advances.
Claims not validated by the system don’t get returned or rejected. Instead, they undergo a second level of scrutiny and approval.
EPFO introduced the extended auto-claim facility across India on May 6, 2024. Since then, the retirement fund body has approved 13,011 cases totaling Rs 45.95 crore.
