The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) recently held its 236th meeting, led by Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.
During the meeting, several important changes were made to benefit EPFO members and simplify the process.
New ETF Policy and Investment Guidelines
The CBT approved a new policy for Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) to help EPFO members earn more.
Under this policy, 50% of the ETF funds will be reinvested in Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and the Bharat 22 Index. This money will be held for at least five years.
The remaining funds will be invested in other options like government bonds and corporate securities.
Additionally, new guidelines were approved for investing in Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs)
and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) sponsored by public sector companies and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Changes to EPF Scheme and Claims Process
An important update was made to the EPF Scheme 1952. Previously, interest on claims was only paid up to the end of the month before the claim was settled.
Now, interest will be paid until the settlement date, which will benefit members financially and reduce complaints.
Moreover, the government has increased the auto claim limit for house, marriage, and education expenses. The limit has been raised from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh.
In this financial year, 1.15 crore auto claims were settled, and the rejection rate has dropped to 14%. These changes will benefit 7 crore EPFO members across India.
So far, the EPFO has settled 3.83 crore claims worth over Rs 1.57 lakh crore. In 2023-24, the EPFO settled 4.45 crore claims totaling Rs 1.82 lakh crore.
