Good news for EPF subscribers! Soon, your claims will be settled even faster
In what comes as a good news for EPF subscribers, their Employees' Provident Fund claims will soon be settled faster. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched a multi-location claim settlement facility to expedite member claims. Till now, EPF claims were processed based on jurisdiction of the establishment. Source - PTI.
New EPFO facility
The new facilities allows EPFO offices to settle online claims from any of its regional offices across the country, the labour ministry said in a statement. All types of online claims i.e. provident fund, pension, partial withdrawal and claims and transfer claims can be processed under this new initiative, the retirement body mentioned. Source - PTI.
EPFO explains new facility
“Taking a big leap towards ensuring uniform standards of service delivery across the country and optimum utilisation of its workforce during COVID-19 Pandemic, EPFO has recently launched a multi-location claim settlement facility. This facility will bring a paradigm shift by allowing EPFO offices to settle online claims from any of its regional offices, across the country. All types of online claims i.e. provident fund, pension, partial withdrawal and claims and transfer claims can be processed under this novel initiative,” the statement read. Source - PTI.
EPFO services hit
EPFO also mentioned that operations at 135 regional offices were affected with different levels of severity due to the Covid induced lockdown. The ministry said it was observed that though many offices in Mumbai, Thane, Haryana and Chennai zones operate with even less than skeletal staff on account of COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a disproportionate increase in claim receipt due to recently introduced COVID-19 advance. Source - PTI.
More on new facility
It said that some EPFO were operating with 50 per cent workforce but settled Covid-19 advance claims within three days with the help of auto settlement mode. To reduce the delays by uniformly distributing the claim settlement related workload nationwide, EPFO has moved away from the existing system of geographical jurisdiction for claim processing by rolling out multi-location claim settlement facility. This will allow offices with lesser workload to share the burden of offices that have accumulated a higher level of pendency, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Source - PTI.