The EPFO has extended its auto claim solution for all claims for education, marriage purpose and housing, which essentially means such claims will be processed automatically by IT system, a move that will aid over 60 million subscribers.
First introduced in 2020, the system was set up for claiming advance for illness.During the current year, around 2.25 crore members are expected to reap the benefits of this facility.
In addition, the EPFO stated that the limit for this facility has been doubled from earlier Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000. According to a statement, during the financial year 2023-24, the EPFO settled around 4.45 crore claims, of which more than 60 per cent (2.84 crore) claims were advance claims (for withdrawal of funds on grounds like illness, marriage, education).
Of total advance claims settled during the year, about 89.52 lakh claims were settled using auto-mode. The entire process in auto-settlement is IT system driven, eliminating human intervention.
As a result, the periodicity of claim settlement is reduced significantly from 10 days to 3-4 days for such advances. The claim that are not validated by system are not returned or rejected. They are further undertaken for second level of scrutiny and approvals.
The expansion of the scope of the auto claims to the housing, marriage and education purposes as well as enhancement will directly help many members to avail their funds within the shortest possible duration, which will substantially aid them in promptly meeting their education, marriage, or housing requirements.
Introduced on May 6, 2024 across the country and since then the EPFO has approved 13,011 cases for Rs 45.95 crore vide this initiative providing speedy service.