The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has introduced a new policy allowing the processing of physical claims without Aadhaar seeding in death cases, provided certain conditions are met. This decision, outlined in a circular dated 17 May 2024, addresses challenges faced by field offices regarding the seeding and authentication of Aadhaar for deceased members.
Field offices have reported significant difficulties in managing Aadhaar details for deceased individuals. Specific references from field offices highlight their inability to seed and authenticate Aadhaar in these cases. Since Aadhaar details cannot be updated or corrected after a member’s death, this presents a major challenge. Issues include inaccuracies or incomplete information in Aadhaar records, lack of Aadhaar data for cases predating its implementation, deactivated Aadhaar accounts, and technical issues with validating Aadhaar through the UIDAI database. These problems have hindered the timely processing of claims, delaying payments to rightful claimants.
To mitigate these issues, the EPFO has permitted the processing of physical claims without Aadhaar seeding in death cases. However, this concession is contingent upon approval from the Officer in Charge (OIC) via an e-office file. The file must thoroughly document the verification procedures undertaken to authenticate the deceased’s membership and the legitimacy of the claimants. Additionally, OIC-directed due diligence measures must be followed to prevent fraudulent withdrawals.
These directives apply specifically to scenarios where member details are accurate in the Universal Account Number (UAN) but need to be corrected or completed in the UID database. For cases where Aadhaar data is correct but UAN details are inaccurate or incomplete, field offices must adhere to guidelines. This involves correcting the data in the UAN, seeding, and validating/authenticating Aadhaar.
