Major changes in EPFO in the year 2025
PF is considered a reliable way of safe savings for those working in India. At the same time, in the year 2025, the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has made many such changes, due to which it has become easier than ever to withdraw PF, transfer it and settle the claim. The new rules will directly impact crores of employees. With EPFO 3.0, digital facilities have also been updated on a large scale, due to which the wait for people has reduced and the work has started becoming faster.
Withdrawal rules now simple
Earlier, there were 13 different categories for withdrawing PF advance, due to which members got confused and the claim got rejected many times. But now EPFO has reduced these and divided them into just three needs. The first is essential needs, which include illness, education and marriage. The second is the needs related to the house and the third is the special situations, in which the member no longer even needs to give reasons.
The biggest relief is that now members can withdraw full 100% of their PF balance i.e. contribution of both employee and employer. Facility to withdraw money up to 10 times for education and 5 times for marriage has been given. Also, 12 months of service has been made mandatory for any partial withdrawal, making the process quite clear and easy.
PF will be automatically transferred as soon as the job is changed.
Earlier, after changing jobs, Form 13 had to be filled to transfer PF and many times the old employer used to delay the approval. Now this entire work has become completely automatic. Now as soon as the employee joins a new job and the employer updates the joining date, the PF will automatically be transferred to the next account. This facility has been possible because of Universal Account Number (UAN). If UAN is active, KYC is complete and bank is linked, then there will be no hindrance in transfer.
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EPFO 3.0: New era of digital service
From the year 2025, EPFO has started implementing its new digital platform EPFO 3.0. Many changes have been added to it, such as an improved online portal, new mobile interface, and faster and secure claim processing. The online correction system will now be with OTP verification, so that members will be able to correct name, date of birth and other information themselves. Along with this, soon the facility to withdraw PF money from both ATM and UPI will also be provided, which is being considered a big step.
Final PF settlement easy
Earlier, even a small discrepancy or missing contribution of a month would lead to rejection of the entire claim. Now EPFO has started part payment system. This means that where the records are correct, the payment will be released immediately and the remaining amount will be received later without making a fresh application.
Auto-claim limit increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh
Now auto settlement of PF advance will be done up to Rs 5 lakh. Claims falling within this limit will be settled within 72 hours without any manual verification. This is being considered a big relief step for lakhs of employees.
More new changes for members
EPFO passbook has been made light and easy to understand. All services will be available at one place through a single login portal. Besides, access to Annexure K certificate has also been simplified. Also, Employees Enrollment Campaign 2025 has been started, so that the employees left between 2017-2025 can be included in PF.