The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has announced two major reforms on April 3, 2025 aimed at making PF withdrawals faster and simpler for its 7.74 crore members. EPFO has removed the requirement to upload an of image of a cheque or passbook while submitting claims and has also eliminated the need for employer approval after bank verification.
In a press release issued today through PIB, the Labour Ministry said that, “these reforms are aimed to enhance the Ease of Living for EPF members and Ease of Doing Business for employers”.
This decision to ease the requirements comes after EPFO’s announcement of its plans to raise auto PF withdrawal limit to Rs 5 lakh from existing Rs 1 lakh and to enable instant PF withdrawals via UPI and ATMs. The decisions are also in line with the Organisation’s goal to make its services more banking-like. Earlier this week, the EPFO expanded its banking network by adding 15 more banks, bringing the total to 32, to collect contributions and settle claims.
Speaking on the decision through social media platform, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Labour and Employment, stated, “EPFO continues its reform journey by introducing these two reforms to make the claim settlement process simple, faster and hassle-free for crores of EPF members & employers”. EPFO is actively working on evolving towards EPFO 3.0 to make it as accessible and efficient as banks, the Minister further added.
Removal of Requirement to Upload Image of Cheque and Attested Bank Passbook
Earlier, EPF members had to upload an image of their cheque or an attested copy of their bank passbook while filling online claims. This requirement caused many claims’ rejection due to poor-quality/unreadable uploads. This requirement has now been completely removed as EPFO already verifies member’s bank account details at the time of bank account linking with the Universal Account Number (UAN).
EPFO had initially run a pilot program starting in May 2024 for selected KYC-updated members dispensing with the requirement of an image of a cheque or attested bank passbook. The pilot program proved successful and has already benefited 1.7 crore members since its start. Now EPFO has extended the relaxation to all members.
The reform will provide immediate relief to around 6 crore EPF members by reducing grievances and lowering claim rejections caused due to uploading of poor quality/unreadable images of the cheque and passbook.
Employer’s Approval No Longer Needed for Bank Account Linking
Until now, EPFO required the employer to approve the request after a member linked his/her bank account with UAN. This requirement has now been removed. The members’ bank account can now be linked directly after bank verification without employer’s approval.
EPFO noted that 1.3 crore such approvals were required from employers through DSC/E-Sign in the financial year 2024-25 after the members’ bank accounts linking with the UAN. And around 36,000 requests for linking of bank accounts are raised on a daily basis by members. It takes banks around 3 days to complete the members’ bank account linking verification but about 13 days on average for the employers to approve the process after bank verification, causing delay for the members and workload burden on employers.
The decision to remove the requirement of employer’s approval will immediately benefit around 14.95 lakh members whose approvals are currently pending with the employers.
These reforms also benefit the members who are yet to link their bank accounts with UAN and those who want to change their already linked bank account. The members will have to enter new bank account details with IFSC code and authenticate duly through Aadhaar OTP. According to EPFO, 4.83 crore members have already linked their bank accounts with UAN out of the 7.74 crore monthly contributing members.