Some of the changes envisioned for the retirement fund body in the short, medium, and long term include restructuring of EPFO offices, business process re-engineering, leveraging IT for automatic settlement of claims and cadre restructuring, a senior government official told ET, requesting anonymity.
The aim is to create an innovation-driven social security organization. The idea is to extend universal coverage and ensure seamless and uninterrupted services in a contactless, paperless and transparent manner to its stakeholders through state-of-the-art technology, the official said.
EPFO: Bigger and Better
According to the official, the EPFO has commissioned a study to IIT Delhi on reforms needed at EPFO to improve efficiency, the report for which is expected to be submitted later this month.
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EPFO’s staffing decreased by 21.3% over the past decade, while claims processed increased by more than three and a half times. This highlights the need for increased human resources and other structural adjustments at the organization. Efforts are underway at EPFO to enhance governance, such as establishing a nationwide centralized database and utilizing technology for automated claim processing, pending validation.
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EPFO is undergoing restructuring at the infrastructure level. The official stated that any decision on cadre restructuring will be made after considering all aspects. The subscriber base of EPFO has significantly increased in recent years due to the rise in the number of organized workers in India. The net subscriber addition under EPFO has seen a substantial growth, with numbers standing at 6.1 million in 2018-19, 7.8 million in 2019-20, 7.7 million in 2020-21, 12.2 million in 2021-22, and 13.8 million in 2022-23. This marks a remarkable jump of over 126% in just five years.
