In a big relief for millions of people, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has raised the auto-settlement limit for advance claims (ASAC) from Rs1 lakh to Rs5 lakh, Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Tuesday. The move will enable withdrawal of the amount without the requirement of manual verification. EPFO first introduced auto-settlement of advance claims during the Covid-19 pandemic to provide quick financial assistance to its members.

“The limit for auto settlement of the EPFO claims has been increased to Rs5 lakh. Such claims will get cleared within three days like the process for auto claims at present,” Mandaviya said.

In a post on X social media platform, the minister said this is another “people-centric move” under the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government. “EPFO enhances Auto-Settlement Limit for Advance Claims from Rs1 Lakh to Rs5 lakh, with fast-track disbursal now within 72 hours,” Mandaviya noted.

In March this year, the Central Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee (EC) had approved the proposal to enhance the ASAC limit to Rs5 lakh. With an increase in the auto-settlement limit, the members can automatically withdraw up to Rs5 lakh instantly. In May 2024, the ASAC limit was increased to Rs1 lakh from Rs50,000.

According to the minister, in the first two-and-a-half months of the ongoing financial year 2025-26, EPFO has auto-settled 76.52 lakh claims, constituting 70 per cent of all the advance claims settled so far. EPFO added as many as 19.14 lakh net members during April this year. This figure depicts a significant increase of 31.31 per cent over March.

A noticeable aspect of the data is the dominance of the young 18-25 age group who are in their first jobs. The EPFO added 4.89 lakh new subscribers in the 18-25 age group, constituting a significant 57.67 per cent of the total new subscribers added in April this year.