EPFO eases rules for verification, withdrawal

Anju, who works in a private company, needs to get her daughter admitted for higher studies . She is in need of money. When she could not arrange money from anywhere, she applied for withdrawal from her PF account. After a few days, it was found out that her claim had been rejected. The reason given was that the photo of the cheque she had uploaded was not clear.

To provide relief to people like Anju, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has taken a big step forward. The organisation has abolished the requirement to upload a verified copy of the cheque or passbook for online PF claims. With this decision of EPFO, the claim process will speed up, and the money from PF will be credited to bank accounts sooner.

EPFO has clarified that if a member fulfils all other eligibility criteria, there is no need to upload a copy of the cheque book or passbook. The new system will be implemented in three ways:

Almost all employees now have their bank accounts linked with Aadhaar. EPFO will verify the bank account through the Aadhaar card. The second option is verification of the bank account through NPCI. In this process, EPFO can verify the member’s account by transferring one rupee. The third option is that EPFO can verify the bank details by asking for details from the claimant’s company. If any one of these three processes is verified, then uploading a copy of the cheque or verified bank passbook will not be necessary anymore. In most cases, claims are rejected for not doing so. Even those who upload a photo of their cheque or passbook, often face rejection due to the photo being unclear. Anju’s case was the same.

What’s special is that during the claim settlement process, EPFO officials will be able to determine based on the color of the website whether it is mandatory to upload the cheque or bank passbook photo in this case. For this, pre-verified online accounts will be coded in green, allowing officials to quickly process claims. If the account is not verified, it will be coded in red. In such cases, uploading a copy of the checque or passbook will be necessary.

EPFO has started a new software for the convenience of over seven crore of its members. With the help of this software, members can update their information such as name, date of birth, address, marital status, nationality, Aadhaar, etc., while sitting at home. With the introduction of the new feature, members will not have to visit EPFO offices for self-claim settlement, self-transfer of PF account, or e-nomination. However, members will have to upload specified documents to verify these details.

EPFO is continuously taking steps for the convenience of its members. Therefore, exercise caution while making claims to avoid scenarios like Anju’s. If any document needs to be uploaded, it should be clearly visible. Always keep your KYC updated.