EPFO: Over the past decade of the Narendra Modi administration, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has received over 80 million applications for the settlement of Provident Fund claims, with approximately 60 million claims successfully resolved. Following these settlements, a total of around Rs 4.31 lakh crore has been disbursed to EPFO account holders.
Unemployment lasting more than two months
During the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha, the Minister of Labor and Employment was queried regarding the number of applications received by EPFO for the complete withdrawal of Provident Fund amounts due to unemployment lasting more than two months over the last ten years, and how many of these applications were processed successfully.
The minister has said…
In response, Minister of State for Labor and Employment Shobha Karandlaje stated that as of March 7, 2025, EPFO had received a total of 80,209,323 applications for Provident Fund settlements during the past decade, with 60,000,923 claims settled. Consequently, Rs 4,31,513.46 crore was disbursed to EPFO members. The Labor Minister noted that following the introduction of the COVID-19 Advance Facility in response to the pandemic, EPFO received 31,079,861 applications for Provident Fund withdrawals between 2019-20 and 2024-25, of which 25,569,397 claims were settled, resulting in an advance payment of Rsb54,162.12 crore to account holders.
This scheme was initiated during the lockdown period. In a written response, the Labor Minister informed the House that the number of EPFO member accounts has increased from 117.8 million to 325.6 million over the last ten years. Additionally, EPFO has recently implemented significant changes to the rules governing interest payments in EPF claim settlements, which has expedited the processing of Provident Fund claims for its subscribers.