New Delhi. By making an important change in December 2025, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has given great relief to the families of lakhs of employees. Under the new circular issued on 17 December 2025, EPFO has made the rules of EDLI i.e. Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme more practical. This will directly benefit those families whose death claims till now were stuck or rejected due to minor technical reasons or minor gaps arising while changing jobs.
EDLI scheme is an insurance cover available to EPF members, under which in case of death of the employee, a lump sum amount is given to his nominee or legal heirs. Till now the rules regarding continuous service in this scheme were quite strict. If even a small break was visible in the records while changing jobs, then in many cases the entire claim was rejected or it was settled at a lesser amount. After the new circular, these rules have been softened to a great extent.
Weekends and holidays will no longer be considered service breaks
EPFO has clarified that if an employee leaves his old job on Friday and joins a new job on Monday, then the intervening Saturday and Sunday will not be considered as service break. Similarly, weekly holidays, national holidays, gazetted holidays, state government holidays and restricted holidays will also not be counted as break in service. The only condition is that the difference between the exit and joining date should be only due to these holidays. In such cases, the service of the employee will be considered continuous and there will be no negative impact on the EDLI claim.
A gap of up to 60 days is also acceptable after changing jobs.
Under the new rules, now even a gap of 60 days while changing jobs will be considered as continuous service. This change is very important for those employees who take some time to join a new job due to notice period, interview process or other reasons. Earlier, due to such gaps, death claims would become weak, but now EPFO has eliminated this problem to a great extent.
Minimum EDLI payout increased to ₹50,000
EPFO has increased the minimum payout under EDLI scheme to ₹ 50,000. The nominee will receive this amount even if the employee has not completed 12 months of continuous service. Not only this, even if the average PF balance of the member is less than ₹ 50,000, a minimum of ₹ 50,000 will be paid. This decision is being considered a big relief for the families of low salary and new employees.
In case of death, relief is also given in the condition of 6 months.
According to the new circular, if the employee dies within 6 months from the date of last PF contribution and he is still on the rolls of the employer, the minimum EDLI benefit will still be applicable. Earlier, even in such cases, there used to be a lot of confusion and delay regarding claims.
Why is this decision important?
It is clear from these changes that EPFO is now focusing on the basic objective of social security instead of technical rejection. The new rules will reduce rejections of EDLI death claims and more families will be able to get timely financial assistance. This decision can prove to be a strong security shield for crores of employees working in the organized sector and their dependents.
