EPFO settles 137,000 withdrawal claims to ease Covid-19 lockdown woes

Withdrawal claims worth Rs 280 crore has been settled in the past 10 days

Retirement fund body EPFO on Friday said it has settled 137,000 provident fund withdrawal claims worth Rs 280 crore to provide relief to subscribers during the lockdown.

"Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has processed about 137,000 claims across the country disbursing an amount of Rs 279.65 crore under a new provision especially formulated by amending the EPF Scheme to help subscribers fight Covid-19," a labour ministry statement said.

According to the statement, remittances have already started taking place. EPFO has settled these claims in the past 10 days.

The system as it stands today is processing all applications which are fully KYC (know your customer) compliant within less than 72 hours.

Members, who have applied for claims in some other category, can also file for claim to fight the pandemic and depending upon the KYC compliance condition of each member, every effort is being made to settle claims at the earliest, the ministry said.

The provision for a special withdrawal from the EPF scheme to fight Covid-19 pandemic is part of the PMGKY scheme announced by the government and an urgent notification on the matter was made to introduce a para 68 L (3) of the EPF scheme on March 28, 2020.

Under this provision, non-refundable withdrawal to the extent of the basic wages and dearness allowances for three months or up to 75 per cent of the amount standing to member's credit in the EPF account, whichever is less, is provided.

The member can apply for lesser amount also. This, being an advance, does not attract income tax deductions, the ministry said.

Anticipating the huge surge in demand, the EPFO came out with a completely new software which has been developed from scratch and a receipt module for on-line receipt of the claims was introduced within 24 hours and deployed on March 29, 2020.

Further, the application was required to be in electronic form to curtail any physical movement in view of social distancing.

It was decided to introduce a system of settling claims in auto mode directly by the system in respect of all such members whose KYC requirements were complete in all respects.

The Covid-19 pandemic has posed a serious threat and considering dire need of money in these trying times, it has been decided to process advance to fight Covid-19 pandemic on top priority, the ministry said.
 

Claims for availing advance to fight pandemic are filed online, necessitating every EPF account to be KYC complaint as pre-cursor.

Coronvirus: EPFO to accept Aadhaar as birth proof online from subscribers

Retirement fund body EPFO will accept online its subscribers' Aadhaar card as valid proof to rectify their date of birth to ensure that the account is KYC compliant, the labour ministry said on Sunday.

"In a move to extend the availability and reach of online services in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation) has issued revised instructions to its field offices to facilitate PF members to rectify their date of birth in EPFO records, thus ensuring that their UAN is KYC compliant," a ministry statement said.

According to the statement, the date of birth recorded in Aadhaar will now be accepted as valid proof of date of birth for the purpose of rectification, provided that the difference in the two dates is less than 3 years. Read more...