Even as the EPFO has launched the EPF 2026 scheme and aims at faster processing of claims digitally, the EPF Officers' Association in a letter to the Minister of Labour & Employment, has highlighted that lakhs of auto EPF claims remain pending in the system for more than 20 days without any explanation to field offices or members.In the letter dated August 3, 2026, which is also marked to the chairman of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), EPF, the officers’ body has underlined many key policy-level issues affecting the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The body has raised concerns over delays in claim processing as well as the rollout of the Centralized IT Enabled System (CITES), shortage of technical and field staff, leadership structure within the EPFO and the need for reforms in the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS).Before you continue readingHow financially free are you?Most people overestimate their financial freedom. Discover your Financial Freedom score through a quick surveyIn the letter, the officer body also claims that the EPFO's staffing sanctions are at March 2008 levels and there is no direct ISD recruitment since 2004. It has also raised the demand to reconsider appointing outside officers in senior EPFO positions. Here, we discuss some of the key issues and suggestions in the letter of the EPF Officers' Association.Officers’ body says lakhs of auto claims kept pending for more than 20 daysThe EPF officers’ body writes it was claimed that with the implementation of CITES, the majority of EPF claims would be processed in auto mode, within 2-3 days.“Unfortunately, the experience till now has been quite the opposite. Lakhs of auto claims were kept pending in the system for more than 20 days, with no explanation to either the field offices or to the members,” reads the letter. “Field functionaries were left to their own devices for answering multitude of grievances on official grievance channels, social media & in person,” the letter claims.The officers’ body says that the problem has been further aggravated because instead of coming out with realistic timelines and keeping the public informed, consistent messaging has been that nothing is wrong and the EPFO shall be settling all claims in two days’ time.“In todays’ day undefined this creates a perception of misinformation & hiding,” says the letter.It says that the CITES project was given to the CDAC in January 2023, with a 10-month timeline but had been delayed inordinately.“The project has been inordinately delayed in the development stage and even now it has been implemented in July 2026 in a piecemeal manner,” reads the letter.No direct recruitment in Information Services Division since 2004, writes bodyThe officers’ body writes that the EPFO’s policy-level failure has been that it is trying to run a modern, technology-driven organisation with insufficient internal IT infrastructure.“There has been no recruitment in the critical Information Services Division (ISD) of EPFO for the past several years. The last direct recruitment to ISD was done in the year 2004, i.e. 22 years ago. We have been unable to even recruit a full-time CTO for the EPFO for the past 3 years,” as per the letter.Staffing sanctions remain at March 2008 levels, says EPF officers’ bodyThe officers’ body says the last organisational-level assessment of workload was done by the EPFO in 2016-17, and its field offices & in-position manpower is still continuing on the basis of that assessment.“Metro offices such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Gurugram are under severe strain, handling technology savvy subscribers with outdated staffing norms. This mismatch has led to rising grievances and operational stress,” says the letter.EPF officers’ body seeks reform in EPS pension schemeThe association also says the government has been unable to enhance pension benefits under EPS, as actuarial evaluations have consistently reported a significant deficit.“A key reason lies in the fact that when the EPS was introduced in 1995, prevailing interest rates were in the range of 12–13%, which have since declined substantially,” says the employee body.While designing EPS 2026, the government had an opportunity to restructure the scheme to ensure financial viability while retaining inclusivity for new members, says the letter.EPF officers’ body demands PFRDA-like reformsThe officers’ body writes that while thePension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) permits only three withdrawals during the entire service span of an individual, the EPFO allows multiple withdrawals.“If the provident fund is treated merely as a bank account, retirement savings will be inadequate. The concern is compounded by the fact that new EPF members are excluded from the EPS, resulting in the absence of secured savings for the future,” reads the letter.EPF officers' body seeks expert leadershipThe officers’ body compares the EPFO leadership with that of the PFRDA, stating that the latter is led by domain experts. It also claims that around 20% of senior cadre posts in the EPFO are earmarked for deputation. It requests the Chairman of the Central Board to review the existing policy governing such appointments.“If the EPFO continues to be treated like a generalist organisation where anyone, with no prior experience, can one day come to occupy a top policy-making position, then how can we be expected to compete with other expert financial sector organisations?,” says the letter.