The Ministry of Labour is planning to reduce claim settlement time of provident fund from almost a month at present to seven days soon. The move, aimed at facilitating withdrawal from provident fund accounts, will be a source of relief for 6 crore account holders.
?We will be able to simplify the system after computerisation is complete. Our aim is to reduce settlement time to 7 days from one month at present,? said Samirendra Chatterjee, central provident fund commissioner of Employees? Provident Fund.
The EPFO, which settles around 1 crore applications per year, is on a major drive to computerise all data lying with it. EPFO has already computerised 28 regional offices and is computerising 56 at present. The computerisation is likely to be completed by next March.
?We are also looking at developing a system where challans can be given electronically,? Chatterjee said. Such a system will be helpful in doing electronic payment by the employers and receiving account statements through internet. EPFO has asked all regional offices to prepare websites to facilitate such electronic transactions.
Present at an interactive session organised by the Indian Chamber of Commerce, he said that accounts remaining inoperative for three years will be blocked and will not be counted among the regular accounts.
Although such accounts will not be given interest as a regular annual feature, when the account holder wants to withdraw the amount, he will get interest applicable on the date of withdrawal. But the EPFO is yet to decide on whether 1.1% administrative charges could be deducted from that.
According to Chatterjee, about Rs 15,000 crore of unclaimed amount is lying with the EPFO for almost 2 crore accounts.
Meanwhile, EPFO is also planning to buy annuity plan for the pension fund account holder. “This will make the pension scheme more viable,? Chatterjee said.