The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), on February 28, 2024, announced on the social media platform X that some of its services have been temporarily down due to ongoing technical maintenance. “Dear member, all services utilizing Aadhar authentication will remain impacted due to technical maintenance of the Aadhar setup of EPFO. Inconvenience caused is deeply regretted,” the message reads. This technical glitch disrupts EPFO services and the EPFO serves around 27.7 crore Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members, making it the country’s biggest social security scheme.

As per the rules, any organization employing 20 or more employees must provide the EPF facility. Recent EPFO payroll data shows a net annual increase in its membership at 4.62 per cent, or 15.62 lakh members, year-on-year in December 2023.

Also Read: What Are Forms 15G And 15H And How Is TDS Deducted In EPF? Things To Know

EPFO caters to a massive volume of subscriber queries and transactions daily, resulting in high traffic and tremendous pressure on its old IT infrastructure, which, along with staff shortage, may have contributed to a higher claim rejection rate. Many claim rejections are also due to mistakes made by members while filling in the details.

Many people have reacted to the EPFO message on X, expressing their frustration. Those trying to authenticate their Aadhar numbers on the EPFO portal have received a message saying, “Temporary problem at AADHAR server. Please try after some time”. Pacifying them, EPFO said the disruptions were caused by technical problems in the Aadhaar setup of EPFO. However, it did not give a timeline for the problem’s resolution.

Nowadays, Aadhaar is mandatory for most financial transactions and official businesses. For example, the OTP to modify or change a password is sent to the Aadhaar-linked mobile number.

Also Read: Six Special Income Tax Benefits For Senior And Super Senior Citizens

While digitization has made our lives faster, the gaps in IT infrastructure can sometimes cause breakdowns and service disruptions. Hence, having a robust digital infrastructure is critical to help endure the increasing work volume.

EPFO conducts outreach programs under its “Nidhi Aapke Nikat 2.0” on the 27th of every month in the different districts of the country to resolve complaints on the spot.