New Delhi [India], July 8 (ANI): Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has completed the migration of its entire member database to a centralised platform under the Centralised IT Enabled Services (CITES) project, marking a major overhaul of the organisation’s digital infrastructure aimed at faster, transparent and citizen-centric service delivery.
Mandaviya said the CITES project modernises EPFO’s service delivery through automation and rule-based processing, replacing the earlier decentralised architecture in which each field office maintained separate databases.
“EPFO has completed the process of migrating its entire database of member records to the new centralised database,” the Union Minister said.
He said that with the implementation of CITES, EPFO now operates on a single national database, enabling service requests to be processed from any authorised location across the country instead of being linked to a specific regional office.
Highlighting the immediate benefits of the new system, Mandaviya announced that for the first time after the centralisation of EPFO, annual interest for the financial year 2025-26 at 8.25 per cent will be credited to around 34 crore member accounts, involving an estimated Rs 1.44 lakh crore, by July 15.
“Members will be able to view the interest credit in their passbook by July 15th,” he said.
He noted that earlier, although the EPFO interest rate was declared much earlier, the actual credit to members’ accounts generally took place only by October-November.
Mandaviya said the centralised platform would provide members with a unified digital interface.
“On login to the EPFO Member portal, members will have access to a unified digital interface to view their membership details, provident fund balances, claim status, pensionable service records, and benefits availed, thereby ensuring transparency and access to information about their PF account and submission of claims,” he said.
He added that earlier, members’ information remained scattered across different systems and was not available through a single portal.
The Minister said member claims would now undergo automated pre-validation before processing.
“Member claims will undergo automated pre-validation prior to processing at EPFO offices. Any deficiencies or discrepancies will be identified upfront and appropriate guidance will be provided to members, thereby significantly reducing claim rejections and improving first-time acceptance rates. Members will also be able to know what is the eligible amount, which they can apply for withdrawal from their PF account under the different types of withdrawals permitted and can make informed choices,” he said.
He said that under the earlier system, members often did not know the amount they were eligible to withdraw under different categories, resulting in claim rejections when applications exceeded permissible limits.
Mandaviya further said a substantial proportion of advance claims of up to Rs 5 lakh, which are fully KYC-linked and validated, would now be processed through an auto-settlement mechanism.
He noted that the auto-settlement limit for advance claims has been enhanced from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.
The Minister also said that wherever additional information or clarification is required during claim processing, EPFO offices will be able to raise queries online, allowing members to respond digitally.
He said this would enable faster resolution, minimise physical visits to EPFO offices and further reduce claim rejections. Earlier, members did not have any facility to submit or receive clarifications online.
Mandaviya further said, “Claim payments will be processed through a centralised payment architecture and routed through faster electronic payment channels, ensuring secure, efficient, and timely credit of settlement amounts directly into members’ bank accounts on the day of settlement.”
He also announced that under the revised system, interest in final PF settlements will now be calculated up to the date of payment authorisation instead of only up to the last day of the previous month, ensuring members receive additional interest for the intervening period.
The Minister said the earlier 13 complex partial withdrawal rules have been streamlined into three simplified categories, Essential Needs, Housing Needs and Special Circumstances, to make the withdrawal process easier to understand.
He added that EPFO members will now be able to withdraw up to 75 per cent of their total PF balance.
Mandaviya also announced that Aadhaar-linked Universal Account Number (UAN)-based PF accounts will now be transferred automatically when members change jobs, eliminating the need to submit separate transfer applications.
Earlier, transfer of PF accounts required approvals from the previous employer, the new employer and the EPFO office, besides a separate application to transfer service history.
He further said that with the centralised IT system, members would be able to seek assistance and clarifications from any PF office across the country, instead of being restricted to the regional office where their PF account was maintained.
For pensioners under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), Mandaviya said they would now be able to approach any PF office for services or submission of life certificates.
He added that under the centralised pension payment system, pension claims processed in any regional office could be credited to any bank account anywhere in India.
Earlier, pensioners could receive their pension only through the branch office to which their Pension Payment Order (PPO) was linked. (ANI)
Related reading
