Provident fund claims no longer require a paper form routed through an employer. A member with an active Universal Account Number and seeded KYC can file online and track the claim themselves.
That shifts HR's job. You no longer process the claim. You make sure nothing on the record blocks it.
What has to be true before a claim can be filed?
| Requirement | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| UAN active | Nothing can be filed without it |
| Aadhaar seeded and verified | Drives the OTP-based authentication |
| PAN linked | Affects tax treatment on early withdrawal |
| Bank account with IFSC | Where the settlement is credited |
| Date of exit updated | The employer's job, and the most common blocker |
The last row is the one firms get wrong. A member cannot file a final settlement until the exit date is recorded, and a departed employee has no way to make that happen themselves.
Which claims can be filed online?
Final settlement, pension withdrawal, and partial advances for defined purposes such as housing, medical treatment, education and marriage. Each has its own eligibility rule on service length and the amount available.
The scheme and its forms are published by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation. PF runs at 12% of wages with a statutory ceiling of 15,000 a month under the 1952 Act.
Why does a claim get rejected?
- Name mismatch. PF record against Aadhaar against bank account.
- Exit date missing or wrong. Nothing proceeds until the employer fixes it.
- KYC not approved. Seeded is not the same as verified by the employer.
- Service condition not met. Advances have minimum service requirements.
- Previous service not transferred. Two accounts, split service, failed eligibility test.
Four of those five are fixable at joining and at exit, by HR, in minutes.
What is at stake for a family?
More than a balance. On the parallel state scheme ESIC says "ESIC provides monthly payment apportioned among dependants in case of death due to employment injury."
Both systems pay out to people named in records an employee filled in years earlier. Stale dependant data is discovered at the worst possible time, so a refresh prompt after any life event is worth more than it costs.
What should HR do at joining?
Across 1,200 hires a year, a 2% duplicate-account rate is 24 broken service histories. Collect the existing UAN if there is one, so service transfers instead of a second account opening. Seed and approve KYC while the employee is present and motivated.
A duplicate account is the single most expensive error here, because splitting service across two UANs can break eligibility for pension benefits that depend on continuous service.
What should HR do at exit?
Update the date of exit promptly, complete the final contribution, and tell the leaver what they can file and when. Most do not know that an exit date they cannot see is what is blocking them.
Keep the last contribution and the exit date consistent. A mismatch between them is a reliable way to stall a settlement for months.
How does this sit with ESI?
Separately, with its own benefits. The Employees State Insurance Corporation says "ESIC provides 70% of average daily wages in cash during medical leave, upto 91 days in two consecutive benefit periods."
ESI runs at 3.25% employer and 0.75% employee for wages up to 21,000 a month. Two schemes, two sets of records, one joining form, and both stall for the same reason: KYC that was never completed.
What does good look like?
ESIC also says "ESIC provides reasonable Medical Care for self and family from day one of entering into insurable employment", so the same joining record is doing two jobs from day 1. Every active employee has an active UAN with approved KYC. Every leaver has an exit date filed within the month. Nomination status is reportable rather than filed away.
That is three fields on the employee record and a monthly report, not a project. The wider framework sits with the Ministry of Labour and Employment, and holding PF, ESI and exit data on one record is what 247HRM payroll and statutory compliance are for.