EPFO Mulls Massive Digitisation Exercise, Expanding Auto Settlement Scope In Two Months

The Ministry for Labour and Employment and the EPFO are expected to be working on structural reforms planned with three timelines, NDTV Profit has learned, with the earliest goals planned to be completed by June 30.

According to a senior official aware of the development, these reforms were proposed upon concluding the 16th Zonal Review Meeting on Tuesday.

The 16th Zonal Review Meeting of the EPFO took place in New Delhi over two days, ending on April 30.

The Secretary of Labour and Employment Ministry Sumita Dawra highlighted key performance indicators during the meeting, which include expansion of social security, faster settlement of claims, reduction in claim rejection, revamped IT systems, pension and ease of doing business for employers, according to a release on the matter.

NDTV Profit has learned of a plan to extend the scope of auto settlement of advances up to Rs 1 lakh for all kinds of partial withdrawal claims, such as illness, housing, education, and marriages.

These are usually filed under Form 31, which makes up 60% of total claims, the official quoted above said. Form 31 is known commonly as the 'EPF Advance Form', and is used to file a claim for partial withdrawal or advance from an Employees' Provident Fund account.

To reduce the claims that fall under the 'Rejected' category, claims that are returned requiring correction or are incomplete are proposed to be linked with the previous claims.

In accordance with older EPFO reports, building upfront eligibility checks at the time of submission of claims as well as accurately and lucidly describing remarks in events of rejection were also said to be discussed.

The claims rejected on the grounds of ineligibility can be minimised at the entry stage. An upfront filtering can reduce this rejection rate, the senior official said.

There is also a plan to digitise death claims, as the majority of them are submitted in physical format, the official quoted above said. They will also work towards authenticating bank accounts through NPCI so that an individual doesn't have to present proof of a chequebook /passbook of a bank account every time, the official said.

A larger goal to launch a centralised IT system to consolidate the databases, automating the process flow for settlement claims and elimination of transfer claims is also in the pipeline for the next six months, according to the official.

Form 13 is currently filled to transfer one's PF account from one employer to another. It lets an individual move their PF amount to a new account without deduction.

Queries sent by NDTV Profit to the Ministry of Labour seeking a response were yet to be answered at the time of publication.