The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Tuesday said claims for partial withdrawal of advances had increased by 212% in April-August compared to last year. It said it had settled 94.41 lakh claims amounting to ₹35,445 crore from April to August, an increase of 32% in the number of claims and 13% in the amount disbursed to members compared to the same period last year.
“To help members tide over the liquidity needs during this crisis, the EPFO fast tracked settling of COVID-19 advances and illness-related claims. It introduced auto mode of settlement for these two categories of advances...Notably, 55% of advance claims settled during April-August 2020 were related to the recently introduced COVID-19 advance while around 31% of advances settled during the period pertained to illness claims,” an EPFO statement said.
The EPFO said nearly 75% of the advances given under the special pandemic scheme and about 79% of claims for illnesses were to subscribers who earn less than ₹15,000 a month.
“Timely availability of PF advances prevented many low-wage earners from falling into debt, providing social security support to the weakest section of workforce during these adverse times,” the EPFO said.
Also read: Coronavirus | 2.88 lakh pandemic PF withdrawal claims processed, says EPFO CEO Sunil Barthwal
It said while there was a 212% jump in partial withdrawal claims, there was a decline of 35% in the number of final PF settlement claims in April-August 2020 compared to the same period in 2019.
