New Delhi, May 13 (IANS): EPFO has now extended its quicker auto-mode system to cover advance claims for expenses on education, marriage and housing as well in order to facilitate ease of living for its members, according to an official statement issued on Monday.

“EPFO has introduced an Auto Claim Solution in which a claim is processed automatically by the IT system without any human intervention. To facilitate "Ease of living", the auto claim solution has now been extended for all claims under para 68K (education & marriage purpose) and 68B (housing purpose) of EPF Scheme, 1952. In addition, the limit has been doubled from earlier Rs 50,000/- to Rs1,00,000/-. This move is expected to benefit lakhs of EPFO members,” the statement said.

Auto mode of claim settlement was first introduced in April, 2020, for the purpose of advance for illness. Now this limit has been enhanced to Rs1,00,000/-. During the current year, around 2.25 crore members are expected to reap the benefits of this facility.

During the financial year 2023-24, EPFO settled around 4.45 crore claims, out of which more than 60 per cent (2.84 crore) claims were advance claims. Out of total advance claims settled during the year, around 89.52 lakh claims were settled using auto-mode.

Any claim with KYC, eligibility and bank validation is processed for payment by IT tools automatically. As a result of this, the periodicity of claim settlement is reduced significantly from 10 days to within 3-4 days for such advances. The claims that are not validated by the system are not returned or rejected. They are undertaken for a second level of scrutiny and approvals, the statement explained.

The expansion of the scope of the auto claims was introduced on 6th May 2024 pan India and since then EPFO has approved 13,011 cases valued at a total of Rs 45.95 crores vide this initiative providing speedy service, the statement added.