The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation said the introduction of a wide range of reforms last year has resulted in simplified processes, reduced delays, and improved the overall experience for members and pensioners. A major step in this direction was the simplification of partial withdrawal provisions, where the earlier set of thirteen rules was merged into a single, easy-to-understand condition, allowing members to withdraw up to 75% of their PF balance while the remaining 25% continues to support their retirement corpus.
To reduce processing times, EPFO expanded its auto-advance system beyond illness-related claims to include housing, marriage, and education, with limits raised to five lakh rupees by mid-2025. As a result, nearly half of all claims and 72% of advance claims were settled automatically. The organisation also eased the PF transfer process during job changes by launching an auto-transfer facility in January 2025, which handled more than 65 lakh transfers without requiring any action from members or employers.
Several digital interventions have made banking and claim processes far more efficient. From April 2025, bank account verification no longer required employer approval, helping over one crore members complete the process seamlessly. Further, EPFO eliminated the need to upload cheque images or passbooks for claim submissions, enabling real-time verification through NPCI or empanelled banks and resulting in more than four crore verifications.
For ease of access, the passbook feature was integrated directly into the member portal through Passbook Lite, which registered more than three crore views by the end of 2025. On the identification front, EPFO introduced face authentication technology for self-generation and activation of UANs, enabling nearly fifty lakh new UANs during the year, while also allowing members to de-link wrongly attached Member IDs and correct personal details independently through a simplified Joint Declaration system that processed over thirty-two lakh corrections.
Significant changes were also made to support pensioners. The launch of the Centralized Pension Payment System in January 2025 enabled smooth, nationwide pension disbursal across any bank of the pensioner's choice, benefitting more than 70 lakh individuals.
EPFO also streamlined its interest crediting process so that virtually all member accounts received the 8.25% annual interest for 2024–25 by July 2025. To assist workers from establishments losing their exempt status, field offices generated more than 88,000 bulk UANs to ensure timely credit of past accumulations. Members also gained the ability to download their Transfer Certificates directly from the portal, giving them easy access to their transfer history.
To address inaccuracies in pension contributions, EPFO issued uniform rectification guidelines in December 2025, expected to significantly reduce settlement-related grievances. In partnership with India Post Payments Bank, the organisation also enabled doorstep submission of Digital Life Certificates, ensuring uninterrupted pension payments for elderly or digitally inexperienced pensioners.
Further, the EDLI insurance scheme was liberalised in 2025, raising the minimum payout to fifty thousand rupees and expanding eligibility by recognising continuous service even when members had short employment gaps, thereby ensuring dependents receive timely and adequate support during difficult times.
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