New Delhi: Retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Tuesday said that it has settled 36.02 lakh claims and disbursed Rs 11,540 crore to its members during lockdown in in April and May 2020.


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“Despite the lockdown restrictions EPFO settled a staggering 36.02 lakh claims thereby disbursing Rs. 11,540 crore to its members during the last two months of April and May 2020. Out of this, 15.54 lakh claims, disbursing Rs. 4580 crore to claimants, were related to the recently introduced COVID-19 advance under Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY),” a labour ministry statement said.


A look at wage slab-wise data points out that more than 74 % of total claimants during the lockdown period belonged to slab of less than Rs.15,000 wage, it said.


The high income category with wages more than Rs. 50,000 accounted for a mere 2% of the claimants.


Approximately 24% of claims were made by the members with wages falling in the Rs.15,000 to less than Rs.50,000 category.


The ministry said that the COVID-19 advance has been a great help to EPFO’s members during these difficult times, especially for the members with monthly wages of less than Rs 15,000.


Receiving the COVID-19 advance to the extent of basic wages and DA for three months or up to 75% of the amount standing to member's credit in the EPF account, whichever is less, has provided timely relief to many workers, preventing them from falling into indebtedness, it added.