Govt to Credit Rs. 30.52 Crore into 7.11 Lakh Inoperative EPFO Accounts Automatically

The government is planning to give back money that is lying unused in Inoperative EPFO accounts. These are accounts that have been inactive for a long time, often because people changed jobs or forgot about them.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment wants to settle these accounts and transfer the money directly into the bank accounts of the subscribers. This will help people get back their savings easily instead of the money remaining unclaimed.

On Monday, Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya approved a pilot project to automatically credit Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) money to account holders. This pilot will cover about 7.11 lakh inactive accounts out of a total of 31.86 lakh inactive accounts. Each of these accounts has a balance of Rs. 1,000 or less, said sources.

Sources said that around Rs. 10,903 crore has been lying unused in these 31.86 lakh inactive EPF accounts, which were opened over the last 20 years. Many of these accounts became inactive because people changed jobs, lost track of their accounts, or did not claim the money.

If the pilot project works successfully, the government plans to extend the same process to the remaining 24.76 lakh subscribers whose accounts have higher balances. This would help more people receive their pending EPF money more easily without complicated procedures.

What do you understand by Inoperative EPFO Account?

An Inoperative EPFO Account is an Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) account that has remained inactive because no money has been deposited into it by either the employer or the employee for 36continuous months (3 years).