EPFO Free Rs 7 Lakh Life Insurance Cover: Many workers with EPF do not know that they are already covered by a free life insurance plan called the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance, or EDLI. EPFO says all EPF members are also EDLI members, so they do not pay any separate premium for it. The money is paid by the employer, and the employee does not lose anything from salary for this cover. EPFO also says the scheme gives life insurance support to the family if the member dies while still in service.
The scheme is for employees in factories and establishments, and EPFO says it works through automatic membership for EPF workers. One small exception shown on the official EDLI page is tea factories in , where the scheme does not apply. This means the cover is already there for most regular EPF members, but only when the worker is an active member and the EPF contribution is being paid properly.
What is EPF, EPS and EDLI?
These three schemes do different jobs.
- EPF is the savings part. It helps build a retirement fund.
- EPS is the pension part, and the employee does not pay into it.
- EDLI is the insurance part, and the employee also does not pay into it.
EPFO’s FAQ says the employer pays 0.5% of pay for EDLI. The same official FAQ also says the employer’s share is partly diverted to the pension fund for EPS.
The worker should still keep a few things updated. The EPFO portal says nominations are mandatory, and e-nominations can be filed and changed during service. EPFO also says employer approval is not needed for e-nomination updates when Aadhaar-based e-Sign is used. That is why nominee details matter so much in EDLI claims.
How much the family can get?
The maximum EDLI amount is ₹7 lakh. EPFO’s official EDLI page says the benefit can be worked out in two ways, and the formula with the higher amount is used. One part is 35 times the average monthly wages, with wages counted up to ₹15,000 a month. The other part is 50% of the average balance, capped at ₹1.75 lakh. Together, this can reach ₹7 lakh. EPFO also shows a minimum benefit of ₹2.5 lakh on its EDLI page.
A 2025 EPFO circular added a useful correction for death claims. It says the minimum benefit for dependents or legal heirs was raised to ₹50,000 in cases where the member had not completed 12 months of continuous service before death and the average PF balance was below ₹50,000. The same circular also says gaps of up to 60 days between two spells of EPF-covered service should be ignored, so small breaks should not wrongly block an EDLI claim.
Documents Required to Claim EDLI Insurance Amount
To claim the EDLI insurance benefit, the nominee, family member, or legal heir must submit Form 5(IF) along with the required documents.
- Form 5(IF) must be filled and submitted for the EDLI claim.
- If the EPF member had registered a nominee then the nominee should file the claim.
- If no nominee details are available then the deceased member’s family members or legal heir can apply for the benefit.
- The claim form should be submitted along with: Death certificate of the EPF member, Identity proof of the claimant, Bank account details of the claimant, Other required KYC documents, if applicable
- In most cases, the claim form must be attested by the deceased employee’s last employer.
If the establishment has closed down or the employer is unavailable, the claim can be attested by any authorised official, such as:
- A Magistrate
- A Gazetted Officer
- A Postmaster
- A Bank Manager
- Any other official permitted under EPFO rules
The official instructions also say the claim is normally sent together with the PF and pension papers, so the full death claim can be processed at one time. EPFO’s claim form page shows that Form 5(IF) is used along with Form 20 and Form 10D or Form 10C, depending on the case. That makes the process a little easier for the family at a very hard time.