In a major relief for members of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the government on Tuesday raised the auto claim settlement limit of provident funds (PF) from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. This will enable EPFO members to have faster access to funds, especially in times of urgent need. According to the information shared, advance claims filed by the members will get settled in auto mode within three days of filing.
"EPFO enhances Auto-Settlement Limit for Advance Claims from Rs 1 Lakh to Rs 5 Lakh, with fast-track disbursal now within 72 hours," said Minister of Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya in a post on X. The data shared by him says that 2.32 crore auto-claims were settled in the FY 2024-25 vs 89.52 lakh in FY 2023-24.
EPFO had first introduced auto-settlement of advance claims during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide quick financial assistance to members.
Meanwhile, the retirement fund body EPFO added 19.14 lakh members on a net basis in April 2025. This figure depicts a significant increase of 31.31 per cent over March 2025 and a 1.17 per cent growth over April 2024.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) enrolled around 8.49 lakh new subscribers in April 2025, representing a 12.49 per cent increase over March 2025.
This increase in new subscribers can be attributed to growing employment opportunities, increased awareness of employee benefits, and EPFO's successful outreach programmes, it stated.
According to the data, a noticeable aspect is the dominance of the 18-25 age group. EPFO added 4.89 lakh new subscribers in the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 57.67 per cent of the total new subscribers added in April 2025.
New subscribers in the 18-25 age group added in the month show an increase of 10.05 per cent compared to the previous month of March 2025.
The net payroll addition for the age group 18-25 for April 2025 is approximately 7.58 lakh reflecting an increase of 13.60 per cent from the previous month in March 2025.
