The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is preparing to roll out UPI integration for processing claims, a step that will improve efficiency and shorten transaction times, according to Labour and Employment Secretary Sumita Dawra on Monday, March 24, 2025.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Ms. Dawra shared that the EPFO currently has around 7.5 crore active members who contribute to their PF accounts and pensions. “We have made significant improvements in this process. Claims of up to ₹1 lakh are now automated, self-correction tools have been added, and unnecessary steps have been removed. Also, by integrating databases, we have reduced the time to process claims to just three days
Ms. Dawra mentioned that EPFO has created a centralised database and is now planning to integrate UPI. “We’ve received input from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and submitted a proposal to EPFO. After testing, we aim to roll out the UPI system for claims by May end. This will allow members to access their EPFO accounts through UPI and quickly process claims if eligible,” she said. She added that the centralised database will be stabilised in two to three weeks, after which UPI integration will be ready.
On pension reforms, she explained, “EPFO now has 78 lakh pensioners. Previously, only a few banks disbursed pensions, but after consulting the RBI, we introduced a centralised pension system, allowing pensioners to receive payments from any bank.”
She also spoke about the government’s Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) scheme, noting, “The budget has increased the ELI allocation from ₹10,000 crore to ₹20,000 crore, benefiting new and existing workers. Additionally, platform workers now get health coverage under the PMJAY scheme.”