The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is urging members to utilize official EPFO portals and the UMANG app for free, secure online services, cautioning against unauthorized agents who charge fees for services that are officially free. EPFO has implemented several reforms to simplify and expedite services, including auto-settlement of claims up to Rs. 1 lakh, simplified transfer claim processes, online member profile correction using Aadhaar authentication, and online delinking facilities. While EPFO has enhanced online accessibility and removed requirements for employer approvals in certain processes to improve user experience and reduce claim rejections, some cybercafes and fintech companies exploit members by charging for these free services. EPFO emphasizes that all services, including claim filing, transfers, KYC updates, and grievance redressal, are free of charge and accessible through official channels. Members are advised to contact EPFO helpdesks for assistance and to avoid sharing their financial data with unauthorized third parties. EPFO maintains a robust grievance redressal system, resolving 98% of grievances within stipulated timelines in FY 2024-25.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Labour Employment: Indian government ministry responsible for labor and employment issues.
EPFO: Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, an organization managing provident fund accounts in India.
PIB Delhi: Press Information Bureau, Delhi, the agency that posted the notification.
Employees Provident Fund Organization: The full name of EPFO, an organization managing provident fund accounts in India.
Simplification of KYC: Initiative by EPFO to simplify Know Your Customer procedures.
Auto settlement of advance claims upto Rs. 1 lakhs: EPFO initiative to automatically settle advance claims up to Rs. 1 lakh.
Centralized Pension Payment System CPPS: EPFO initiative to streamline the pension disbursement process.
Rs. 1 lakh: The enhanced limit for Auto Claim settlement facility under Illness, Housing, Marriage Education.
FY 202425: Financial Year 2024-2025, the year in which 2.34 Crore claims were settled in auto mode.
15.01.2025: Date from which the transfer claim process was simplified by removing the requirement of employer approvals.
Aadhaar: A 12-digit individual identification number issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India.
UAN: Universal Account Number, a unique identification number for employees contributing to EPFO.
UMANG APP: A mobile application for accessing various government services, used here for UAN allotment and activation.
Face Authentication Technology FAT: Technology used in UMANG APP for UAN allotment and activation.
April 2025: Month from which the requirement of Employer approval for seeding bank account details with UAN has been removed.
CPGRAMS: Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System, a portal for registering grievances.
EPFiGMS: EPFO Grievance Management System, an EPFO portal for registering grievances.
16,01,202: Number of grievances received in EPFiGMS in FY 202425.
1,74,328: Number of grievances received in CPGRAMS in FY 202425.
Regional offices: Local offices of EPFO where members can contact helpdesksPROs for any issues.
www.epfindia.gov.in: Official website of EPFO.
Manish Gautam: Individual associated with the release of the information.
Divyanshu Kumar: Individual associated with the release of the information.
Anjelina Alexander: Individual associated with the release of the information.
2136592: Release ID of the notification.
Ministry of Labour & Employment
EPFO Urges Members to Avoid Approaching
Unauthorized Agents and Use Official EPFO Portals
for Free & Secure Online Services
Posted On: 16 JUN 2025 1:42PM by PIB Delhi
Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has taken a series of reforms designed to make EPFO
services faster, transparent and user-friendly for all its stakeholders. These initiatives are part of EPFO’s
commitment to deliver hassle-free, secure and efficient services to all its stakeholders.
EPFO in recent times has issued circulars for Simplification of KYC or member details correction & for
submission of transfer claims, deployment of functionality for Auto settlement of advance claims upto Rs. 1
lakhs and Centralized Pension Payment System (CPPS) for simplifying the Pension disbursement process.
The limit of Auto Claim settlement facility was enhanced to Rs. 1 lakh for Advances under Illness, Housing,
Marriage & Education resulting in 2.34 Crore claims settled in auto mode in FY 2024-25. The Transfer claim
process has also been simplified w.e.f. 15.01.2025 by removing the requirement of employer approvals in
most of the cases.
The Online facility provided for member profile correction has been simplified using Aadhaar authentication.
The dependency on employer and EPFO for member profile correction has been done away with, in most of
the cases. The Online de-linking facility has enabled members to delink wrong member id from their UAN
and thus has resulted in reduction of grievances.
The Allotment and activation of UAN is being done through UMANG APP using Face Authentication
Technology (FAT). By availing this facility, the member gains immediate access to EPFO services such as
passbook viewing, KYC updates, claim submission etc.
EPFO has removed the requirement of uploading of the image of cheque leaf/attested bank passbook for
speedy settlement of claims filed online and to reduce the rejection of claims. Also, the requirement of
Employer approval for seeding bank account details with UAN has been removed from April 2025.
However, it has been observed that several cybercafe operators/fintech companies are charging EPFO
members large sums of money for services that are officially free. In many cases, these operators are simply
using the EPFO’s online grievance portal, something any member can do on their own, free of cost, from the
comfort of their homes. The stakeholders are cautioned against visiting or engaging with third-party
companies or agents for EPFO-related services as this may expose their financial data to third party entities.
These external entities are not authorized by EPFO and may charge unnecessary fees or compromise the
security of personal information of members.
EPFO has a robust grievance monitoring and redressal system wherein the member grievances are registered
on CPGRAMS or EPFiGMS portals and are monitored till their resolution in a time bound manner. A total of
16,01,202 grievances were received in EPFiGMS and 1,74,328 in CPGRAMS in FY 2024-25. Out of these,
98% of the grievances were redressed within timelines. EPFO strongly advises all its members, employers,
and pensioners to utilize the online services available through the EPFO portal and UMANG app. All EPFO
services including claim filing, transfers, KYC updation, and grievance process are entirely free of cost and
members should not pay any fees to third party agents or cyber cafes for services that can be easily accessed
online. Further, the members can contact EPFO helpdesks/PROs at Regional offices as listed on the official
website (www.epfindia.gov.in) for any issues.
EPFO remains committed to empowering India’s workforce with world-class, technology-driven socialsecurity services.
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Manish Gautam/Divyanshu Kumar/Anjelina Alexander
(Release ID: 2136592)