EPFO raises auto-settlement limit to ₹5L for PF advance claims
By : Sandhya
The Union Minister for Labour & Employment, Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday said that EPFO has increased the auto-settlement limit for advance claims form Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakhs in order to facilitate faster fund access for EPFO members, especially in times of urgent needs.
What Did Mansukh Mandaviya Say?
According to Mandaviya, this major service enhancement is expected to benefit lakhs of members. EPFO had first introduced auto-settlement of advance claims during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide quick financial assistance to members.
The facility has been extended to cover advanced claims for illness, education, marriage, and housing purposes.
"These claims are processed automatically by the system without any human involvement, ensuring quick turnaround and transparency," an ANI report cited the minister.
Mandaviya further added that EPFO has taken a series of reforms designed to make EPFO services faster, transparent and user-friendly for all of its stakeholders including simplification of KYC or member details correction, removal of dependency on employer as well as EPFO for member profile correction.
Auto-Settlement Claims History
Mandaviya also added that in FY 2024-25, EPFO processed a record 2.34 crore advance claims through auto-settlement, which is a 161% increase compared to 89.52 lakh claims in FY 2023-24.
Notably 59% of all advance clains in FY25 were settled through the auto-mode as compared to 31% in FY24. In the next 2.5 months of FY26, EPFO has already auto-settled 76.52 lakh claims, constituting 70% of all advance claims settled to date.