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EPFO auto claim limit raised to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh: Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya

This means over 7.4 crore subscribers of the retirement fund body can now withdraw their funds through advance claims up to Rs 5 lakh for education, illness, marriage and housing without any further intervention.

In the first 2.5 months of the ongoing financial year 2025-26, EPFO has auto-settled 76.52 lakh claims, constituting 70 per cent of all the advance claims settled so far, he said. (Credit: Pixabay)

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has increased the limit for auto settlement of claims to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh, Minister for Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday. This means over 7.4 crore subscribers of the retirement fund body can now withdraw their funds through advance claims up to Rs 5 lakh for education, illness, marriage and housing without any further intervention.

“The limit for auto settlement of the EPFO claims has been increased to Rs 5 lakh. Such claims will get cleared within three days like the process for auto claims at present,” Mandaviya said.

“This growth highlights EPFO’s strong focus on automation and delivering faster, more efficient services to its members,” he said.

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What is EPFO auto claim settlement?

The auto-claim settlement process, which is the automatic processing of claims without any human intervention for advance claims, was first introduced in April 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic for illness or hospital advances. Then, the Ministry of Labour and Employment had expanded the categories for auto-claim settlement to include education, marriage and housing. In May 2024, the EPFO approved the hike in the ceiling for auto-mode settlement of advance claims for education, marriage and housing to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 50,000.

In the financial year 2024-25, the EPFO processed a record 2.34 crore advance claims through auto-settlement, a 161 per cent increase compared to 89.52 lakh claims in financial year 2023-24, the Minister said. Almost 59 per cent of all advance claims in 2024-25 were settled through the auto mode as compared to 31 per cent in 2023-24, he said.

In the first 2.5 months of the ongoing financial year 2025-26, EPFO has auto-settled 76.52 lakh claims, constituting 70 per cent of all the advance claims settled so far, he said.

Aanchal Magazine

Aanchal Magazine is Senior Assistant Editor with The Indian Express and reports on the macro economy and fiscal policy, with a special focus on economic science, labour trends, taxation and revenue metrics. With over 13 years of newsroom experience, she has also reported in detail on macroeconomic data such as trends and policy actions related to inflation, GDP growth and fiscal arithmetic. Interested in the history of her homeland, Kashmir, she likes to read about its culture and tradition in her spare time, along with trying to map the journeys of displacement from there. ... Read More