From withdrawals to claim settlements: EPFO simplifies access to your PF corpus in major social security push

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has streamlined 13 complex withdrawal provisions into a single, simplified rule, allowing members to withdraw up to 75% of their PF balance for specified needs. This reform is one of a series of wide-ranging changes introduced over the past year that signal a decisive shift toward a faster, more transparent and member-friendly provident fund system.

Partial withdrawal rules

The simplification of partial withdrawal rules has addressed one of the biggest pain points for members, who earlier had to navigate multiple clauses to access their savings. Under the new framework, members can now withdraw up to three-fourths of their balance under liberalised and easy-to-understand conditions, while the remaining 25% continues to build a retirement corpus.

To further speed up access to funds, EPFO has expanded its auto-advance claim processing, first introduced during the pandemic for medical emergencies, to cover housing, marriage and education. The withdrawal limit has been raised in stages to Rs 5 lakh, and over 72% of advance claims are now being settled automatically, sharply reducing delays.

PF transfers

Another major reform has been the automation of PF transfers during job changes. Since January 2025, transfer requests are processed automatically without requiring any action from either employees or employers. By the end of December 2025, more than 65 lakh such transfers had been completed, easing a long-standing source of inconvenience for mobile workers.

No employer's approval

To cut procedural bottlenecks, EPFO has also removed the requirement of employer approval for bank account verification. Members can now seed or update their bank details directly, with over one crore such cases processed since April 2025. In parallel, the need to upload scanned cheque leaves or attested passbooks for claim submissions has been eliminated. Bank verification is now done digitally through empanelled banks and the NPCI network, helping process more than 4.6 crore claims without paperwork-related delays.

Passbook Lite

Access to account information has also been simplified with the introduction of “Passbook Lite” within the member portal. Earlier, members had to log into a separate platform to view their passbooks. The new facility has already recorded over 3.6 crore views, reflecting its widespread adoption.

UAN updation

Digital empowerment has extended to account creation and corrections. Members can now generate and activate their Universal Account Numbers (UANs) on their own using face authentication technology, ending the earlier dependence on employers. Nearly 50 lakh UANs have been created through this system so far. Members have also been given the ability to delink wrongly tagged member IDs from their UANs, resolving access issues for over 2.5 lakh users. In addition, a simplified joint declaration process introduced in January 2025 allows members to self-correct profile errors, with more than 32 lakh such corrections recorded.

PF for pensioners

For pensioners, one of the most transformative reforms has been the rollout of the Centralised Pension Payment System in January 2025. Pensioners can now receive their monthly pension from any bank across the country, removing earlier restrictions that limited payments to select banks in each state. More than 70 lakh pensioners are already benefiting from this system. EPFO has also ensured timely credit of annual interest, with nearly 100% of member accounts receiving the FY25 interest of 8.25% by July 2025—ending years of delays that often triggered grievances.

Legacy issues have not been ignored. EPFO introduced a facility for bulk UAN generation to ensure that past accumulations are credited correctly when exemptions are withdrawn from establishments, with over 88,000 such cases handled. Members can now also download transfer certificates directly from the portal, improving transparency around past PF movements.

To address pension-related complications, EPFO issued guidelines in December 2025 for the uniform rectification of wrongly remitted pension contributions, a step expected to reduce disputes during final settlements. Pensioners facing difficulties in submitting digital life certificates due to remoteness or digital illiteracy have been offered doorstep facilitation through a tie-up with India Post Payments Bank.

EDLI scheme

Finally, social security coverage has been strengthened through reforms to the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme. Eligibility conditions have been liberalised, the minimum benefit has been raised to ₹50,000, and short gaps in employment are now treated as continuous service. These changes ensure wider coverage and faster access to insurance benefits for families of deceased members.

Together, these reforms reflect EPFO’s most comprehensive overhaul in years—one that places speed, digital access and member convenience at the centre of India’s social security administration.