NEW DELHI — The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation launched interactive WhatsApp-based services on Sunday, enabling subscribers to check PF balances, view the latest five transactions and download passbook information directly through the messaging platform.
The initiative, announced by Central Provident Fund Commissioner Ramesh Krishnamurthi, also introduced an automatic settlement facility for eligible inoperative PF accounts with balances up to Rs 1,000. Approximately 1 lakh accounts involving approximately Rs 5 crore are expected to benefit from the automatic settlement, with funds transferred directly to Aadhaar-seeded and EPFO-linked bank accounts without requiring individual claims.
The automatic settlement initiative follows the EPFO Central Board of Trustees' approval of a pilot project at its 239th meeting in March. Under EPF provisions, an account is classified as inoperative if no contribution is received for a continuous period of three years after a member attains 55 years of age or from the date of retirement, whichever is later.
Speaking at the event, Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya highlighted that the fourth tranche of incentives under the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana was disbursed on Sunday. According to ministry data, 286,290 employees received the first instalment of incentives worth Rs 163.39 crore, while 144,831 employees received the second instalment totalling Rs 96.01 crore. Another Rs 702.39 crore was disbursed to 83,242 employers under the scheme.
Launched in August 2025 with an outlay of Rs 99,446 crore, the PMVBRY aims to support 35 million jobs over two years. Under the scheme, first-time employees earning up to Rs 1 lakh a month are eligible for an incentive of up to Rs 15,000, paid in two instalments. Employers hiring additional workers over their existing workforce baseline receive monthly incentives of Rs 1,000-3,000 per eligible employee for two years, with manufacturing establishments eligible for an additional two years of support.
EPFO currently serves around 80 million contributory members and 8.5 million pensioners, with a retirement corpus of nearly Rs 32 trillion, according to the ministry. The ministry also highlighted improvements in EPFO's claim settlement process following the introduction of the Centralised IT-Enabled System CITES 2.01, with EPFO's average claim settlement time falling to 2.57 days in October 2026.
The interactive WhatsApp service will make routine account-related information accessible via EPFO's verified WhatsApp service, reducing the need for physical visits to EPFO offices. Subscribers can access the service by scanning the QR code or saying Hi at +91 8796441800.
