The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization has made reforms in the rules, which will benefit millions of employees and pensioners, and will bring these changes in the convenience, speed, and reduction of complaints from them. This is a great improvement to the employee but on the other hand to the employer also. Let’s know about these new rules in detail.
Improvement In Claim Process
EPFO has made 2 major changes in the claim process. Now the employees will not need to upload the image of check leaf or bank passbook for validating their bank account details. This need mainly affects those members whose KYC is already updated. This change was initiated as a pilot project on May 28, 2024 and now it has been extended to all members. This would benefit 60 crore members and diminish complaints of rejection of claims.
Employer Approval Requirement Eliminated
Another major change is that now employee approval is not required to link a bank account with Universal Account Number (UAN). Earlier, employer approval was required through digital signature or e-sign to add a bank account. This was lengthy and complicated. Now, members can add or change their bank account through their Aadhaar OTP. This will benefit 1.3 crore members.
Benefits For Members
Providing relief to members, this will extremely benefit the claim process become wider, easier, and more time-efficient. Similarly, the problems associated with adding or deleting a bank account address are also curtailed now. Therefore, members will enjoy easy, uncomplicated, and secure access to their funds.
Relief For Employers
This is also more relief to employers. They have less now have to involve in the process of adding a bank account or changing it, thus bringing down their responsibility on this front. This would, hence, be the easiest way of doing business for employers.
Future Plans
The EPFO has now promised further reforms in the times to come. Amongst this are increasing digital payment systems and making services mobile application-enabled for the members. This would contribute to make EPFO more user-friendly.
Conclusion
The EPFO Rule Changes 2025 is a very important chapter not only for the employees but also for employers. These will simplify processes besides saving the time and resources of all concerned. These reforms will ensure that EPFO members have easy and secure access to their funds, thereby guaranteeing their financial safety. This can indeed be termed a big step towards a fortified social security system in India. For more details, you can check here.
Also Read: Fitment Factor Hike: Massive Benefit For 50 Lakh Employees & 65 Lakh Pensioners