EPFO to increase auto settlement limit to 5 lakhs for PF claims and allow UPI withdrawals

Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has announced an increase in auto-settlement of advance claims (ASAC), increasing it from Rs 1 lakh to five times to Rs 5 lakh. Sources told news agency ANI that the move has been designed to increase ‘ease’ for its 7.5 crore members.
According to sources, Sumita Davra, Secretary, Ministry of Labor and Employment, approved the proposal during the 113rd meeting of the Executive Committee (EC) of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir on March 28.
“This amendment will increase the ease of our members to live life for crores,” Daura said in a statement. After this approval, the recommendation for final approval by CBT will be forwarded. Once approved, EPFO ​​members will be able to withdraw up to Rs 5 lakh through the auto-settlement process.
Auto settlement claim
EPFO’s auto-settlement process has seen a tremendous growth, in the previous year, a record 2.16 crore auto-claims have been processed by 6 March, 2025 as compared to only 89.52 lakh claims. This reflects the increasing efficiency of the system, with 95% claims now automatically fixed within three days.
Central Provident Fund Commissioner Ramesh Krishnamurthy said, “The auto-settlement process has made the claims very simple, which is reducing time and human intervention.” “We are committed to make the process more efficient, and with the increasing number of automated claims, our goal is to make it easier for all members to reach PF funds.”
Additionally, EPFO ​​has expanded categories for which advance claims can be automatically decided, now disease, education, marriage, housing, and more can be covered. The system’s reforms have also declined the rejection rate of claims, which has increased to just 30% this year from 50% last year.
UPI withdrawn for PF members
In another game-changing development, EPFO ​​will soon allow Provident Fund (PF) to withdraw with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and ATMs. The Ministry of Labor and Employment has given approval for the scheme, and members will be able to use their funds through UPI and ATMs by the end of May or June 2025.
“This will make it more convenient to use its PF savings immediately through UPI and ATM for new system members,” said Davra. “This is a groundbreaking step that will set an example for other government savings schemes such as General Provident Fund (GPF) for government employees and Public Provident Fund (PPF) for bank customers.”