For millions of salaried Indians, the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) is more than just a savings tool—it represents financial security for emergencies, retirement, or major life milestones. Yet, for many, , riddled with delays, rejections, and opaque procedures.
IndiaToday.in spoke to Kunal Kabra, Founder, Kustodian.life and Ketan Das, Business Head of Finright Technologies, to explore what reforms and solutions could finally simplify the process and restore trust in the system.
Kunal Kabra pointed out that inefficiencies within the EPFO itself often compound delays. “EPFO employees really struggle with OTP and captcha-based logins, wasting hundreds of hours fighting systemic inefficiencies instead of solving actual issues,” he said.
Kabra also highlighted that nearly 32% of EPFO positions are vacant, meaning the organisation operates at just 65% strength. “An organisation running at two-thirds capacity can never win,” he added.
Kabra noted, “Overlapping service histories shouldn’t block someone’s life savings. Moonlighting may be illegal, but penalising members for two days of overlap in years of work history seems unfair.” He suggested dissolving the trust structure, merging EPF and EPS under a single regulation, and ensuring all reasons for claim rejection are communicated upfront to reduce confusion.
Technology could prevent many common errors before they even enter the system. Ketan Das explained, “Issues like missing Date of Exit, wrongly contributed wages, or Aadhaar mismatches should be flagged proactively before a claim is filed. A simple ‘health check’ screen could allow members to fix mistakes in advance rather than discovering them post-rejection.”
Das also stressed the importance of detailed rejection reasons with step-by-step corrective instructions. “Currently, remarks like ‘DOE not updated’ or ‘KYC mismatch’ leave members guessing. Clear guidance turns rejections into actionable workflows instead of dead ends,” he said.
Integrating digitised ECR (Electronic Challan-cum-Return) corrections, transparent grievance redressal, and upfront eligibility display would further simplify claims. “Before claim submission, the portal should display exactly how much the member is eligible to withdraw under each form. This avoids confusion and repeated attempts,” Das added.
Employer bottlenecks are a major source of delays, from incorrect Date of Exit entries and EPS issues to missed contributions or delayed sign-offs.
Kabra and Das recommend allowing members to mark their exit dates, implementing time-bound escalations to Regional Offices, and reducing the time taken to mark defunct employers.
“Currently, the time taken to mark an employer as closed is too high. Until this is done, offline actions can’t proceed. Shrinking this turnaround time will make a significant difference,” Das said.
Better integration between Aadhaar, UAN, and bank accounts can preempt common errors. Kabra suggested adopting the AA (Account Aggregator) framework to automate many verifications, as most users already have Aadhaar, PAN, and mobile linked to their accounts.
Das highlighted one-click KYC health checks and error-specific pathways, ensuring mismatches are directed to the right corrective channel, allowing members to fix issues before filing claims.
Both experts agree that“Rules are crucial, but expecting users to know and follow them instead of building compliance into the system causes dissatisfaction,” Kabra said.
Das cited While it allows members to view contributions and pending transfers easily, it remains read-only and doesn’t show rejection reasons. Enhancing digital tools with actionable data could empower members and restore faith.
The experts’ consensus is clear: EPFO must shift from reacting to errors after claim rejections to validating everything proactively before submission. From DOE and KYC mismatches to EPS eligibility and Annexure K verification, pre-checking digitally can cut rejection rates dramatically.
“Doing this will restore trust in the online system and make withdrawing PF money far less stressful,” Das said.
With these reforms—simpler rules, stronger technology, transparent processes, and a user-centric design—the PF claim maze could finally become navigable. Millions of employees would then access their own hard-earned money without hurdles, making the EPF system truly serve its purpose as a reliable safety net.
(This is Part 3 of our in-depth PF claim crisis series. Earlier parts explored why withdrawing your own money is so challenging and the struggles real PF account holders face.)