Data reveals the rejection percentage for EPF members’ final provident fund settlement claims upon retirement has sharply jumped from around 13% in 2017-18 to close to 34% in 2022-23 financial year. This implies one in three final PF settlement claims is now getting rejected.
The shift to mandatory online claim submissions has led minor discrepancies in name spellings or details with Aadhaar causing rejections, even as overall claim volumes have surged. Hardships caused due to settlement delays were flagged in EPFO trustee meetings too.
Kochi Suicide Highlights Grievance
A retired Kochi man consumed poison in the EPFO office itself after his final PF settlement claim was rejected over mismatch between PF records and ID documents. This tragic incident underscores problems with lack of grievance redressal despite the steep rise in rejection rates.
While EPFO settling 99% claims within the deadline, members contest frequent rejection of re-submitted claims over trivial issues causes hardship. Though EPFO has initiated a probe into the suicide case, concerns remain.
Overall Claims Rise But Rejections Too
In financial year 2022-23, while EPFO saw over 5 crore total claims – up from 4.82 crore the previous fiscal, rejections also rose to 1.34 crore claims from 1.25 crore earlier. Rate held at 25.8 percent.
With 29 crore EPFO memberships presently, ineffective resolution mechanisms can impact millions, critics argue. However EPFO asserts it remains vigilant towards ensuring accountability, quality services despite burgeoning volumes.
