Surojit Gupta
Soon you will able to withdraw your pension using your smartphone. Pensioners and members of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) can breathe easy with the state-run pension fund manager planning to develop a mobile application and move a large chunk of its services online.
“We are developing an app for pensioners and hope to roll it out by early next year,” V P Joy, central provident fund commissioner told TOI.
The app for pensioners is expected to reduce the enormous amount of paperwork and time taken to process applications. Verification will be done through electronic know your customer (e-KYC) using the Aadhaar number.
The organisation has also undertaken a massive effort to upgrade its technology so that subscribers are able to use its services online without any interface with officials at the EPFO. “The idea is that people can access most of our services online and that is where we are headed. Online services will start by early next year,” he said, adding that tie-up with banks are also underway to ensure hassle-free payments.
As a first, the organisation has started moving data from its 123 offices across the country to a central server in its Delhi office. “We have moved data from one office but the entire process of getting the data here will be completed soon,” said Joy, a 1987 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer.
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) has been given the job to shore up the technology at the pension fund manager, which has 3.84 crore subscribers. “Out of the total, 1.4 crore accounts have been linked to Aadhaar,” he said, adding that CDAC was also helping EPFO developing various apps.
The EPFO manages the pension and insurance schemes for the organized sector workforce and is one of the world’s largest pension funds in terms of clients and transactions.
Apart from shoring up technology, the state-run pension fund manager is also planning to offer new schemes to attract subscribers and keep itself relevant in the changing financial landscape. It is planning to unveil a group housing scheme for its members as well as a separate pension scheme.
Members can apply for the housing scheme as a group and the EPFO will certify the amount available in the members’ accounts which will serve as a collateral.
The Times of India
