Lok Sabha Question No. 2680 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-09
Subject: Issues Faced in Pension Claims
Ministry: LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
Asked by: Shri Asaduddin Owaisi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2680

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.03.2026

## ISSUES FACED IN PENSION CLAIMS

2680. SHRI ASADUDDIN OWAISI:

Will  the  Minister  of  LABOUR  AND  EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

- (a)whether  the  Government  is  aware  that  the  downtime  for  the Employees Provident Fund Organization's (EPFO) website is very high, thereby causing difficulties in accessing online services and if so, the
- reasons therefor;
- (b)whether the claim rejection rate of pension at EPFO is indeed very high and the time taken for claim settlement is inordinately long and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (c)whether  the  Government  proposes  to  strengthen  the  grievance redressal  mechanism  along  with  the  functional  customer  care helplines, which are non-functional at this point and if so, the details thereof;
- (d)whether the Government is aware of the issues being faced by the members in relation to Form-19, Life Certificate  and  the  Universal Account Number (UAN); and
- (e)if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  steps  being  taken  by  the Government to resolve the same?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE)

EPFO has been providing online services to its stakeholders i.e.,  EPF  members,  Employers  and  Pensioners  through  the  'Unified

(a): Portal' www.epfindia.gov.in

In response to the technical issues reported regarding the online  services  causing  inconvenience  to  subscribers,  an  extensive diagnostic study was conducted and several steps have been taken to improve performance.

Contd..2/-

New  servers  and  storage  systems  have  been  installed  to replace outdated end of support life equipment. The system capacity has  been  increased  to  handle  higher  loads.  New  routers,  switches, enhanced  bandwidth  and  load  balancers  have  also  been  set  up  to improve speed and efficiency of services. Core applications have been moved to the upgraded system.

Advanced security systems have been put in place, including next-generation firewalls, access control tools, and systems to monitor database and security incidents. A dedicated team has been deployed to run the Security Operations Center.

Through these measures, EPFO  has improved system efficiency, enhanced the ease of doing business for employers and ease of living for members & pensioners.

Rejection  of  pension  claims  generally  occurs  due  to  the

(b): following reasons:

- Incomplete or incorrect claim forms.
- Non-availability or mismatch of member data (date of birth, date of exit, service details, Aadhaar, bank details etc.).
- Non-submission of requisite documents in death cases (e.g., death certificate, succession/legal heir documents).
- ·
- Contribution-related discrepancies.

In order to reduce the rejection on account of above, EPFO is emphasizing on submission of e-nomination and family details online, for all members.

As a result, the rejection ratio of pension claims under the Employees'  Pension  Scheme  (EPS),  1995  has  shown  a  consistent declining trend over the last five years.

With  regard  to  settlement  timelines,  the  scheme  provides that  claim  application,  complete  in  all  respect  along  with  requisite documents, shall be settled and claim amount paid within twenty days.

However, when the claim is not found complete in all respect along with requisite documents, the settlement time can increase on account of extra time taken in getting the requisites completed.

Contd..3/-

(c): EPFO has provided various grievance redressal mechanism to its stakeholders to redress their grievances. Stakeholders can raise their grievances through grievance portals of CPGRAMS and EPFiGMS.

Details of grievances received and disposed at EPFO during 2025 on CPGRAMS and EPFiGMS portal is below:

|   S.No. | Grievance Portal   | Grievances received during 01.01.2025 to 31.12.2025   | Grievances disposed during 01.01.2025 to 31.12.2025   |
|---------|--------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | CPGRAMS            | 2,33,052                                              | 2,28,461                                              |
|       2 | EPFiGMS            | 17,54,297                                             | 17,20,489                                             |

Stakeholders  queries  are  also  being  redressed  through various social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp.  In  addition,  EPFO's  Call  centre  also  redresses  member queries.

Enhanced functionalities under CITES 2.01 project are aimed at accelerating claim processing, minimizing rejection rates, improving system transparency and reducing the number of member grievances.

(d) & (e): Reports  of  certain  elderly  and  infirm  pensioners  facing difficulties in submission of Life Certificate due to failure of fingerprint authentication  in  advanced  age,  iris-related  issues  after  cataract surgery,  or  physical  inability  to  visit  banks/EPFO  offices  has  been received.

To  address  these  concerns,  the  following  measures  have been taken:

- MoU with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB): EPFO has entered into an MoU with India Post Payments Bank to provide free doorstep Digital Life Certificate (DLC) services to EPS-95 pensioners who are unable to submit DLC through smartphones or visit banks/EPFO offices.
- Promotion  of  Aadhaar-based  Face  Authentication:  Instructions have been issued to all field offices to popularise Aadhaar-based Face  Authentication  for  DLC  submission  through  facilitation  at offices  and  outreach  programmes,  including  Nidhi  Aapke  Nikat program, which is conducted across all districts on 27 th  of every month.  Approximately  49%  of  the  total  Digital  Life  Certificates generated during the year 2025 (January-December) were submitted using Aadhaar-based Face Authentication Technology.

*****