EPFO members can now independently update their personal information and transfer their EPF online

EPFO members can now independently update their personal information and transfer their EPF online
These new features were launched by Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has introduced two new features that will benefit more than 76 million members. Members can now update personal information such as their name and date of birth online, eliminating the need for employer verification or EPFO approval.
Additionally, members with e-KYC EPF accounts linked to Aadhaar can submit their EPF transfer claims online using an Aadhaar OTP (one-time password), without requiring any employer involvement. These new services were launched by Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
How can one access the new facility?
This facility is accessible to members whose Universal Account Number (UAN) was issued after October 1, 2017, when Aadhaar matching became a requirement. The minister clarified that no additional documentation is necessary in these instances. For UANs issued prior to this date, employers have the authority to amend details without needing approval from the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The process for submitting supporting documents has also been streamlined for these cases.
In situations where the UAN is not linked to Aadhaar, any corrections must be submitted in person to the employer, who will then verify and forward the request to the EPFO for approval. UAN registration is typically carried out by the employer at the time of an employee’s onboarding.
Many employees have experienced errors made by employers in recording details such as the names of parents or spouses, marital status, nationality, and service information during the registration process or subsequently. To rectify these inaccuracies, employees previously needed to submit an online request along with supporting documents. This request would then be verified by the employer and sent to the EPFO for approval before any changes could be made, a process known as Joint Declaration.
“There are more than 10 crore beneficiaries of EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) in the country. When one has to correct one’s information in EPFO, many times one has to go through a long process. Now many improvements have been made in this, one of the important improvements is that now you can make the necessary changes in your information given in EPFO by going to the digital platform yourself without any intervention,” says Mansukh Mandaviya.
The minister announced that the EPFO has streamlined the procedure for joint declarations on its portal. Employees can now independently rectify the majority of common inaccuracies in their personal information, such as name, date of birth, gender, nationality, parent’s names, marital status, spouse’s name, date of joining, and date of leaving, without requiring employer verification or EPFO approval.
In the fiscal year 24-25, employers submitted a total of 800,000 requests to the EPFO. It was observed that merely 40 percent of these requests were processed within five days, while 47 percent took more than ten days, resulting in an average processing time of 28 days.
The proposed simplification is expected to benefit employees in 45 percent of cases by enabling immediate corrections via Aadhaar OTP verification, while the remaining 50 percent of cases will be addressed directly by the employers.
The procedure for transferring EPF accounts has been streamlined for greater efficiency. EPF members who have completed their e-KYC can now submit their Online Transfer Claims using Aadhaar OTP directly to the EPFO, eliminating the need for employer involvement. In the fiscal year 2024-25, it is anticipated that out of approximately 1.3 Crore claims filed, over 94 percent (around 1.2 Crore) will be processed immediately by the EPFO. This enhancement significantly reduces the turnaround time for processing EPF transfer claims, as employer approval is no longer necessary. Additionally, if a member has an existing transfer claim pending with their employer, they have the option to withdraw that request and submit a new claim directly to the EPFO.
The proposed simplification is expected to significantly decrease member grievances, particularly as 17% of current complaints are related to transfer issues. This change will also lead to a reduction in the number of rejections. For large employers managing a high volume of transfer approvals, this will enhance the overall ease of conducting business.
Over the past nine months, nearly 2 million claims have been held up with employers for a duration exceeding 15 days.