A record 5 crore claims have been settled so far in the fiscal year (FY) 2024–2025, according to a statement released by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) on Thursday.

This is the most claims that a government agency has ever settled. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has crossed the 5-crore claims settlement mark in the fiscal year 2024–2025, according to Labor Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, who made the announcement on Thursday.

The retirement fund authority has processed more than 5.08 million claims totaling Rs 2,05,932.49 crore in the current FY25. The 4.45 lakh claims totaling Rs 1,82,838.28 crore that were resolved in the most recent fiscal year 2023–2024 are far less than this.

Mandaviya emphasized that this outstanding number was made possible by a number of revolutionary reforms that EPFO started. The modifications improved the procedures for settling claims and decreased member complaints.

“We have taken important steps, such as raising the cap and categories of auto-settled claims, making member profile modifications easier, streamlining PF transfers, and raising KYC compliance rates. The effectiveness of EPFO has greatly increased as a result of these adjustments,” the minister said.

The auto-claim settlement mechanism, which guarantees that claims be settled within three days of submission, has been a key facilitator of quicker claim processing. “In FY 2024–2025, 5.08 crore claims were resolved, and Rs 2.05 lakh crore was paid out in total. 4.45 crore claims were resolved and Rs 1.82 lakh crore was paid in the most recent fiscal year“, EPFO said.

The EPFO is settling record claims in the current fiscal year due to the process’s simplicity and adoption of reforms. EPFO has expanded the scope and scope of automatic claim settlement. Three days are allotted for payment under automatic claim settlement. Compared to 89.52 lakh in the previous fiscal year, the number of such claims has doubled to 1.87 crore this year.

In addition, members now have the option to self-correct their profiles thanks to the EPFO. Additionally, the Provident Fund (PF) transfer procedure has been simplified and now requires less employer permission.

Due to the streamlining of the PF transfer procedure, 48% of claims are now submitted straight to the EPFO without the employer’s consent. A mechanism that operates automatically handles 44% of PF transfers. Only 8% of the time is the employer’s consent needed.

The EPFO allows its members to self-correct their profiles; 97.18 percent of connections are accepted by the member voluntarily. Permission from the employer is only needed in 1% of cases. In just 0.4% of situations, the EPFO officials’ approval is necessary.

The EPFO reports that the number of rejected claims has drastically decreased, with only 0.21% of claims currently being denied.