(PIB): To reflect its commitment to improving member services and ensuring the accuracy of member data, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has introduced further simplification in updating member profiles. Under the revised procedure, the members whose Universal Account Number (UAN) has already been validated through Aadhaar can update their profile like name, date of birth, gender, nationality, father/mother’s name, marital status, spouse name, date of joining and date of leaving themselves without the requirement of uploading any document. Only, in certain cases where UAN was obtained before 1-10-2017, the updation would require certification of the employer only.
The consistency and authenticity of EPF members’ personal data in EPFO’s database are paramount to ensuring that the services are provided seamlessly and to avoid the risk of erroneous/ fraudulent payment from the fund. In case of any need to change or correct the member details, a functionality was already made available to the members, which allowed them to upload the required documents and file their requests online. Such requests used to be endorsed by the employer online and forwarded to EPFO for final approval.
Out of the total 8 lakh requests received at EPFO for correction through employers in FY 2024-25, almost 45% of the change requests can be self-approved by the member without the employer’s verification or approval at EPFO. On average, this will eliminate a delay of nearly 28 days taken by the employer to approve Joint Declarations (JDs). The request for change/correction of EPF Account holders not having a full e-KYC shall get approved at the employer level in approximately another 50% of the cases without the requirement for any approval at EPFO.
This revision will immediately benefit around 3.9 Lakh members whose requests are pending at various stages. If any member who can self-approve has already filed his request which is pending with the employer, the member can delete the already filed request and self-approve as per the simplified process. The majority of the cases could directly be self-approved by the members themselves or in some selected cases by the employer.
At present, around 27% of the grievances filed by members relate to member profile/KYC issues. With the introduction of the revised JD functionality, the number of grievances filed by members is expected to drastically reduce.
This simplification in the online process would facilitate the immediate clearing of the member’s requests duly ensuring data consistency, minimizing the risk of errors, and duly ensuring efficient service delivery to the members and promoting ease of living. At the same time by avoiding additional workload at the employer’s end for verification of such details, the simplified process will significantly improve ease of doing business.
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