withdrawal claims are now being processed faster than before as the Employees’ Provident Fund

withdrawal claims are now being processed faster than before as the Employees’ Provident Fund

EPF withdrawal claims will now be processed faster than before 

Any EPFO office in India can process a withdrawal or transfer claim irrespective of its geographical jurisdiction

NEW DELHI : EPF withdrawal claims are now being processed faster than before as the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has not only launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool for auto processing of cl aims but also delinked accounts from regional offices.

So far, your provident fund account was linked to the nearest local or regional office and all claims were proce ssed only through that particular office falling under its geographical jurisdiction. So if one regional office was overburdened with work, claims of EPF subscribers of that office would get delayed.

But now EPFO has launched multi-location claim settlement facil ity under which any regional offices across In dia can settle all ty pes of online claims related to provident fund, pension, partial withdrawal and transfer. EPFO said the new initiative is a step to wards the larger objectives of ushering faceless processing of cl aims which will increase transparency, efficiency, reduction of grievances and expeditious settlement of online claims in line wit h Digital India.This is the second step taken by the retirement fu nds body to increase the pace of processing of claims. The EP FO had recently started using a new AI tool which processes all Covid related claims in just 3 days automatically if the EPF account is fully KYC compliant.

During the lockdown so far, EPFO said it has settled more than 80,000 claims with average daily payout of ₹270 crore. EPFO had recently launched a new Covid pandemic withdrawal facility under which subscribers can wit hdraw to the extent of basic wages and DA (dearness allowance) for three months or up to 75% of the amount standing to member’s credit in the EPF account, whichever is less.