New Rule for EPF Death Claim introduced by EPFO

To simplify the process for claiming EPF benefits after the demise of a member, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has come up with a new rule.

The field officers of EPFO were facing difficulties regarding the updation or rectification of Aadhaar details after the demise of its members. Hence, EPFO made a decision to process claims in such cases without the seeding of Aadhaar details to allow easier access to EPF benefits for the deceased members’ families.

In a circular dated 17.05.2024, EPFO stated, “However, this concession is contingent upon obtaining approval from the Officer in Charge (OIC) via an e-office file. The file must meticulously document the verification procedures undertaken to authenticate the deceased’s membership and the legitimacy of the claimants. This protocol is to be executed in conjunction with additional due diligence measures, as directed by the OIC, to mitigate the risk of fraudulent withdrawals.”

Source: epfindia

The relaxation of Aadhaar details’ requirement is only applicable to the cases where members details are correct in the Universal Account Number (UAN) but incorrect/incomplete in the Unique Identification (UID) database.

For cases where the Aadhaar details are correct, but discrepancies are found in UAN, field officers are required to follow specific guidelines as prescribed in the previous circulars.