Labour Secretary chairs review meeting on EPFO reforms

Sumita Dawra, Secretary, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Government of India chaired a review meeting on reforms in EPFO on 13^th June 2024.The meeting was attended by Smt. Neelam Shami Rao CPFC and other senior officers of Ministry of Labour & Employment and EPFO.

Smt. Dawra commended the recent steps of EPFO to automate the claim settlement and reduce the rejections of claims.For speedy disposal of claims, auto settlement of advances upto 01 Lakh for illness, education, marriage and housing has been implemented by EPFO. About 25 Lakhs advance claims have been settled on auto mode. More than 50% of the illness claims settled till now have been settled on auto mode. This has increased claims settlement speed and large number of them are now being settled within 03 days.

The cheque book/passbook of bank account upload for the KYC Aadhaar linked accounts of members have been dispensed with, thus eliminating the scrutiny requirement in almost 13 lakh claims in last one month.

EPFO has also reduced and rationalised the remarks for easy comprehension of the members for return of incomplete cases and rejection of ineligible cases.

The number of auto transfers generated has also increased threefold with the numbers increasing from 02 Lakh in April-24 to 06 Lakh in May-2024 Smt. Dawra advised EPFO to continue the proactive steps for systemic reforms.

EPFO is in the process of revamping its application software with the UAN based single accounting system for each member and automation of process flow with minimum human intervention for faster settlement of claims. The new software is being developed with the consultation of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC).

The review meeting highlighted the need of the expansion of social security and new initiatives for ease of living and ease of business. The operational reforms in Litigation Management and Audit were also discussed during the meeting.

Smt. Dawra urged the officials to work in close coordination for an effective social security system.