Big relief for EPF members:
Faster withdrawals and bank account seeding without employer’s approval

Apr 4, 2025

Synopsis
EPFO simplifies the claim settlement process by removing the need to upload cheque leaf or passbook images and eliminating employer approval for bank account seeding. These changes enhance convenience for over 6 crore members and reduce delays, improving the overall efficiency for employers.

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has introduced two major simplifications in its claim settlement process, aimed at enhancing the Ease of Living for EPF members and improving the Ease of Doing Business for employers. These reforms will streamline claim approvals, reduce documentation hassles, and minimize rejection-related grievances.

No need to upload cheque leaf or passbook image

In a major relief for EPF members, EPFO has eliminated the requirement of uploading a cheque leaf or an attested bank passbook while filing online claims.

The removal of this step will immediately benefit around 6 crore EPF members. It eliminates claim rejections due to unreadable or poor-quality uploads. It will also reduce grievances and make online claim settlement faster and hassle-free.

The rule was tested in 2024 for some users and was a huge success, benefiting 1.7 crore members. Now, it applies to all EPF members, saving time and reducing claim rejections due to poor-quality or unreadable images.

No employer approval needed for bank account seeding

To further streamline the process, EPFO has removed the need for employer approval after bank verification for seeding bank account details with UAN.

Currently, every member is required to seed his/her Bank Account with UAN to get their PF withdrawals seamlessly credited to such an account.

According to the Ministry of Labour & Employment on April 3, 2025, “During the F.Y. 2024-25, 1.3 crore members have submitted their requests for seeding their Bank Accounts and the requests after due matching with the respective Bank/NPCI are to be approved by the Employer through DSC/E-Sign.

It is seen that around 36,000 requests for seeding of bank accounts are being raised by the members on a daily basis and the banks take an average of 3 days to complete the verification. However, after the bank verification, the average time taken by the Employer to approve the process is about 13 days resulting in piling up of workload at the level of the Employer and consequent delay in the seeding of Bank Account for the Member. Further, this approval step is not adding any value to the verification process.”

This caused long delays for members trying to update their bank details or withdraw their PF.

The new rule will immediately benefit over 14.95 lakh members awaiting their employer’s approval. It will also reduce the backlog of pending employer approvals and workload for employers. It also allows members to easily update their bank details via Aadhaar OTP authentication.

Employees can now link their bank accounts faster without employer intervention. Employers also benefit from reduced administrative burden and a faster claim settlement process.

If you haven’t linked your bank account to your UAN or need to update it, you can now do it easily using Aadhaar OTP verification

[The Economic Times]