EPFO updates: 7 big changes in Employees Provident Fund rules that PF members should know

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has been making many changes for the convenience of provident fund subscribers. From introducing Aadhaar Face Authentication Technology (FAT) for Universal Account Number (UAN) activation to allowing one-time EPF due payment via demand draft, the PF organisation has made the entire process simpler for employees.

1. Generating bulk UANs

The EPFO has launched a facility enabling employers to generate Universal Account Numbers (UANs) in bulk without the mandatory Aadhaar linking. This is done mainly to help members with past accumulations that were deposited by exempted trusts following the cancellation of exemptions or as a result of recovery proceedings.

“With a view to ensuring proper accounting of the Past Accumulations that had been remitted to EPFO by the Exempted PF Trusts consequent to the surrender/cancellation of exemption and also in other cases involving remittance of past period contributions consequent to quasi-judicial/recovery proceedings, it has been decided to relax the requirement of Aadhaar for generation of UAN/credit of Past Accumulations for such members and also provide a facility for the bulk generation of UANs based on the Member ID & other member information available on record so as to enable prompt crediting of funds in the accounts of such members,” the EPFO said in a notice dated April 25, 2025.

2. No need to upload cheque leaf/attested bank passbook

“In continuation of earlier efforts to facilitate the speedy settlement of claims filed online and to reduce the rejection of claims due to the reason of non-uploading of the image of cheque leaf/ attested bank passbook while filing claims online, it has been decided that the members shall not be required to upload the image of cheque leaf/ attested bank passbook at the time of filing a claim provided the bank account seeded with UAN is validated by concerned bank/NPCI, with effect from the date of this circular,” the EPFO said in a circular dated April 3, 2025.

3. Simplifying Form 13

The EPFO has removed the need for employer approval in most transfer cases, streamlining the PF account transfer process when members change jobs. Under the previous system, coordination between two EPFO offices, the source and the destination, was required, which often caused delays in transfers. The revamped version of Form 13 allows for the automatic merger of the member’s old and new PF accounts once the claim is approved by the source office, making the process quicker.

It has also provided a clear bifurcation of taxable and non-taxable components of PF accumulations, ensuring accurate Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) calculations on taxable PF interest. The simplified process is aimed at facilitating annual fund transfers worth approximately ₹90,000 crore.

4. No employer approval needed for PF withdrawal

The EPFO has also removed the need for members to provide employer approval for seeding bank accounts with UAN, which is aimed at reducing the time taken by the process. During the financial year 2024-25 (FY25), 1.3 crore members requested for their bank accounts to be seeded with UAN.

Previously, the requests needed to be first verified with banks and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and then approved by the employer. While banks were observed to take three days to verify, employers took an additional 13 days, on average, to approve the request. This caused a huge delay in the process.

5. House renovation advance based on self-declaration

As per the revision, the members can now withdraw the money under this by simply submitting a self-declaration that they are claiming after five years of completion.

Additionally, members have to ensure that the claim is not linked to any previous withdrawal under para 68B, which allows advances for housing needs, including building/purchasing a flat/land.

6. EPF due payment via demand draft

The EPFO has allowed one-time payment of past EPF dues through a Demand Draft, aimed at addressing concerns raised by several Field Offices regarding cases when employers are unable to remit past dues through the standard Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) system.

“It is therefore clarified that where the Officer-in-Charge of the Region is satisfied that such request is for a one-time payment of past dues and the employer is not seeking a mode other than Internet banking for the payment of future remittances, he may collect the dues in the manner as is practiced for recovery of any demand in arrear, i.e., through a Demand Draft in the name of RPFC-in-Charge of the Region and payable at the bank branch where the Regional Office concerned holds a bank account,” said the Ministry of Labour and Employment in a circular dated April 4, 2025.

7. Simplified UAN activation with face authentication via Aadhaar

In the financial year 2024-25 (FY25), 44.68 lakh out of the 1.26 crore, that is, only 30% of the total, allotted UANs were activated by members. The UAN activation process has been challenging due to several reasons, including miscommunication and delays.