CHANDIGARH–Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), a statutory
body under Union Ministry of Labour and Employment, has left no stone
unturned in ensuring timely and effective delivery of services to its
members. Despite the lockdown restrictions, EPFO settled a staggering
36.02 lakh claims thereby disbursing Rs. 11,540 crore to its members
during the last two months of April and May 2020. Out of this, 15.54
lakh claims, disbursing Rs. 4580 crore to claimants, were related to
the recently introduced COVID-19 advance under Pradhan Mantri Garib
Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY).
The COVID-19 advance has been a great help to
EPFO’s members during these difficult times, especially for the
members with monthly wages of less than Rs 15,000. Receiving the
COVID-19 advance to the extent of basic wages and DA for three months
or up to 75 percent of the amount standing to member’s credit in the
EPF account, whichever is less, has provided timely relief to many
workers, preventing them from falling into indebtedness.
A look at wage slab-wise data points out that
more than 74 percent of total claimants during the lockdown period
belonged to slab of less than Rs.15,000 wage. The high-income category
with wages more than Rs. 50,000 accounted for a mere 2 percent of the
claimants. Approximately 24 percent of claims were made by the
members with wages falling in the Rs.15,000 to less than Rs.50,000
category.
All this is done despite less than 50 percent
of staff during the lockdown. Notwithstanding the shortage of manpower,
EPFO significantly brought down the claim settlement period from
around 10 days to roughly 3 days for COVID-19 advances. Moreover,
against 33.75 lakh claims settled in April-May 2019, a total of 36.02
lakh claims were settled in April-May 2020. Apart from the commitment of
staff, use of artificial intelligence played a big role in achieving
new benchmarks in claim settlement.
As EPFO offices operated with a skeletal staff, an
out of the box innovation was needed to meet the expectations of its
members. Turning adversity into advantage, EPFO launched its first
fully automatic claim settlement system in a record time of just five
days. Almost 54% of the COVID 19 claims are now being settled through
the auto mode. This system is expected to drastically cut down claim
settlement time for EPFO in the future.
With automation and a dedicated workforce, EPFO
is settling more than 80,000 claims every working day amounting to
about Rs. 270 crore, ensuring social security support for its members
in times of crisis.
By YS.Rana:
yadavindras@gmail.com