The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) settled a record 8.31 crore claims in the financial year 2025-26, a 38% jump from 6.01 crore claims processed the previous year, marking the retirement body’s highest-ever annual claim throughput.
Of the total claims, 5.51 crore were advance or partial withdrawals, reflecting wider member access to provident fund savings for time-sensitive financial needs. Auto-mode processing, where claims are settled within three days, accounted for 71.11% of advance claims in FY26, up sharply from 59.19% in FY25. In April 2026 alone, EPFO settled 61.03 lakh claims, with nearly 74% of advance claims processed automatically and 98.70% of total claims settled within 20 days.
Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced the figures on April 29, 2026. “71.11% of advance claims were processed in auto mode (processed in 3 days), up from 59.19% in the previous year, minimising manual intervention,” he said. The minister added that EPFO is set to launch E-PRAAPTI, a dedicated digital platform to identify, track, link and activate inoperative EPF accounts, particularly those without a Universal Account Number.
Improvements in digital convenience also drove volumes. According to EPFO, 6.68 crore members filed claims without uploading cheque-leaf images; 1.59 crore members linked bank accounts without employer approval; 70.55 lakh transfer claims were auto-processed without member or employer involvement; and 29.34 lakh members corrected their profiles independently, without visiting an EPFO office or routing requests through their employer.
The throughput numbers come alongside EPFO’s earlier decision in March to retain the EPF interest rate at 8.25% for FY26, the second consecutive year at that rate, covering more than seven crore subscribers.
For HR and payroll teams, the auto-claim ratio and 20-day settlement benchmark together set a new operating reference for member experience, particularly as new labour-code-driven changes to wage definition flow through PF contributions in FY27.
