New Delhi, Nov. 24 -- Savings are meaningless if you cannot access them. When Dhairya Tanna, 33, tried to withdraw Rs.3 lakh from his EPF account, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation rejected his application. The chartered accountant wanted to withdraw some money from his EPF account to purchase his first house. Despite submitting all the relevant documents, he says his claim was rejected on grounds of improper cheque image.

Last year, the EPFO rejected 24% of part-withdrawal claims-Tanna's being one among 8.7 million rejected applications. Not just that, it also rejected one in every three EPF final settlement claims in 2023, according to the EPFO annual report. That was the highest in five years.

Following the rejection, Tanna ...