Provident Fund claim delays: EPFO officers urge Labour Minister to strengthen CITES

The association, in a letter to the minister, who also chairs the EPFO's apex decision-making body, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), said CITES was introduced to automate processes and enable most claims to be settled within two to three days. Instead, many claims have remained pending for over 20 days, according to PTI.

There has been no direct recruitment to the EPFO's Information Services Division (ISD) since 2004, while several senior technical officers have retired or resigned without being replaced, the association claimed. It also said the organisation has been unable to appoint a full-time Chief Technology Officer for the past three years.

While software development has largely been outsourced to the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), the association argued that external agencies cannot ensure quality outcomes without adequate in-house technical expertise to guide and monitor implementation.

The association said field officials were left dealing with a surge in complaints through grievance portals, social media and in-person queries.

"Field functionaries were left to their own devices for answering a multitude of grievances on official grievance channels, social media & in person," it said.

The officers' body also flagged manpower shortages, saying the EPFO's last workload assessment was conducted in 2016-17 even though its subscriber base has expanded sharply over the past decade.

Staffing levels continue to be based on sanctioned posts dating back to 2008, putting metro offices such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Gurugram under pressure, the association said.

The association also questioned the appointment of generalist officers without prior EPFO experience and urged the Central Board of Trustees to exercise its statutory powers to recruit the officers and staff required for efficient administration.

"Coming to the failure of technology to come to our rescue, let's discuss CITES & the mismanagement of handling its launch issues," the association said.