Co-founder says his name change is pending with EPFO Bengaluru for 3 months: 'Boils my blood'

Srijan R Shetty said he couldn't 'get hold of my own money'. Attempts to file a complaint at the EPFO grievance portal had also failed. (Image credit: @srijanshetty/X)

"If there is something that really boils my blood, it's this EPFO site," Srijan R Shetty wrote on X on Thursday. The entrepreneur, who is now based in Dubai, took to ranting in public after being unable to withdraw money from his provident fund due to an update that has been pending in an EPFO Bengaluru office for more than three months.

"I've now spent countless hours this year just trying to get things sorted on this site and still I can't effing get hold of my own money," Shetty wrote. "For documentary proof, my name change is pending with the EPFO office for over three months." He had generated the request on June 26 and he called it a "significant" day because he was able to login to the EPFO site.

The co-founder and CTO of fintech startup, Fuze, said that he got his ex-employer to approve the name change but it has since not been cleared by the KR Puram Whitefield EPFO office. "Since my name is incorrect (for whatever reason the name is reversed) I can't e-sign using Aadhaar or use any Aadhaar-based biometric verification. So, yes I've been stuck. Staring into the abyss, maybe I will just storm into the office to get this sorted one day," he added.

If there is something that really boils my blood, it's this EPFO site:I've now spent countless hours this year just trying to get things sorted on this site and still I can't effing get hold of my own money.For documentary proof, my name change is pending with the EPFO office pic.twitter.com/DzWxTHYMhe
Srijan R Shetty (@srijanshetty) October 23, 2024

Shetty said that he is now prepared to change his name by visiting the office. "Changing passwords for EPFO is step one which takes a few months. I spent a few weeks trying to reset the password and succeeded after three months. Hopefully I’ll have my money by 2040." he added.

Attempts to file a complaint EPFO grievance portal also failed.

https://t.co/ZBNTxXIvnHSrijan R Shetty (@srijanshetty) October 24, 2024

User distress while trying to access the EPFO site or its features is not uncommon.

The retirement fund body has been in the news for inordinate delays in disbursal of claims, sometimes even running into years. In August, labour secretary Sumita Dawra had told Moneycontrol that the ministry is in the process of upgrading the EPFO’s digital platform and is developing a central database to streamline payments. It was supposed to be ready in three months.