Big Changes in EPF 2025: Easy Transfers, Higher Pension Options, and CPPS

What is EPF?

EPF stands for Employees Provident Fund. This is a type of retirement benefit scheme, designed to assist employees save for their later life. It involves contributions from the employee and employer.

New EPF Regulations

The Employees Provident Fund Organization has introduced some important changes to make services easier. The CPPS (Centralized Pension Payment System) for easier pension payments has simplified the joint declaration process. More clarity has been brought about regarding pensions on higher wages, and members can update their records online. Further, the transfers of PF have also become easier. These changes are all targeted towards making it easier for you to handle your EPF more smoothly.

Combined Declaration Process

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has released a new circular simplifying the Combined Declaration process. This updated process replaces some of the recommendations from SOP Version 3.0, which was issued on July 31, 2024. The new guidelines aim to make things easier and have taken the place of the earlier SOP.

The Recent updates make the process easier by introducing new categories for members, simpler ways to submit documents, and updated steps for employers and claimants.

Clarification on Higher Pension Explained

EPFO released a new circular that shows how pension cases for individuals with higher earnings under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) should be processed. Some field offices had questions about how to handle these cases, specifically regarding pensions on higher wages. These concerns have been sent to the Ministry of Labour & Employment (MoL&E) for further clarification.

This clarification aims to make sure that pension calculations are fair for all types of pensioners. Also, strictly following the trust rules for organizations that are exempted.

Updating Your EPF Member Profile

Employees Provident Fund Organisation has provided an easy process of updating your member profile. If your Universal Account Number is mapped with Aadhaar, you can now update your personal details such as your name, date of birth, gender, nationality, parent’s name, marital status, spouse’s name, and joining and leaving dates without uploading any other documents. If your UAN was issued before October 1, 2017, your employer will need to verify the updates in certain cases.

Transfer of Provident Fund (PF)

The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has made it easier for people to transfer their Provident Fund (PF) accounts when changing their jobs. As per an EPFO notice on January 15, 2025, in some cases, you no longer need to go through your previous or current employer to request an online account transfer.

CPPS (Centralized Pension Payment System)

The CPPS system allows pension payments to be made through the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). This means pensions can now be credited into any bank account, at any branch, of any scheduled commercial bank in India. Regional Offices (ROs) are established to service these CPPS-enabled payments.

In fact, as per a circular dated 17 January 2025 issued by EPFO, due to the introduction of the CPPS effective from January 1, 2025, no further transfer shall be permissible to another RO. For cases that were already marked for transfer but haven’t been processed yet, the original RO where the claim was received will handle it without sending it to any other RO. If any claims have been mistakenly transferred to another office after January 1, 2025, they will be sent back to the original office for further processing.