New Delhi: EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) has signed agreements with 15 additional public and private sector banks to improve its service delivery process and ease payments. The event was held on Tuesday in New Delhi in the presence of Minister of Labor and Employment, Youth Affairs and Sports Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya.
The inclusion of these 15 new banks will ensure direct payment of an annual amount of about Rs 12,000 crore, This will also provide convenience to those employers whose accounts are operated in these banks. Earlier, EPFO had empanelled 17 banks, taking the total number of banks to 32 now. This move will provide direct access to employers to pay their monthly contribution amount under the EPFO Act.
EPFO’s contribution to nation building
In his address, Dr. Mandaviya said that institutions like EPFO are significantly supporting the country’s progress towards a “new India”. EPFO has about 8 crore active members and more than 78 lakh pensioners, who are receiving social security. He also informed that EPFO has recently implemented the EPFO 2.01 system, which has made the claim settlement process very effective and faster.
In the financial year 2024-25, EPFO settled more than 6 crore claims, which is 35 percent more than the 4.45 crore claims of the previous year (2023-24). Dr Mandaviya also informed that customer satisfaction of EPFO has increased significantly and the organization is now working towards implementing EPFO 3.0, which will make it even more accessible and effective.
New pension payment system
An important milestone was also the introduction of the centralised pension payment system, which will allow over 78 lakh pensioners to receive pension in any bank account. Earlier, pensioners were required to have an account in a particular regional bank, but now this requirement has been removed.
Additionally, the EPFO has implemented the auto claim settlement process, under which claims are now being settled in just three days. In the financial year 2024-25, 2.34 crore claims were settled under this system, which is 160 percent more than the 89.52 lakh claims of 2023-24.
Participation of banks
The minister also expressed happiness that EPFO is providing 8.25 per cent interest rate to its beneficiaries. The involvement of banks will make the service delivery process of EPFO more effective and improve governance.
List of new banks
The new banks include HSBC Bank, Standard Chartered Bank, Federal Bank, IndusInd Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, RBL Bank, South Indian Bank, City Union Bank, IDFC First Bank, UCO Bank, Karnataka Bank, Development Bank of Singapore, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Development Credit Bank and Bandhan Bank. This initiative will further improve the service delivery of EPFO and provide better and faster services to millions of Indians.