Inoperative EPFO accounts? Govt may reach out to subscribers to refund unclaimed money; check who's eligible to get it

Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is scheduled to launch an initiative to address accounts that remain inoperative, aimed to retrieve money that remains unclaimed.

In an automated feature, it will manage almost 8.1 lakh Aadhaar-verified dormant accounts, amounting to Rs 5,200 crore. Nearly 14,000 of them have more than Rs 5 lakh lying unclaimed.

Additionally, 38,000 other Aadhaar-verified inoperative accounts have Rs 1-5 lakh lying unattended, and 41,000 accounts have between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh.

Times of India reported that the feature will enable account holders to receive unclaimed funds in their bank accounts, directly, without needs to submit claims.

"In the last meeting, the central board of trustees (CBT) cleared auto-settlement of such inoperative accounts, with an unclaimed balance of Rs 1,000 or less, to registered bank accounts," TOI quoted an official.

The official added, "Based on the learnings from this project, a separate initiative is planned to design a strategy for other accounts. Members who joined after October 2017 will be given priority."

An inactive account in the EPFO refers to an account that has stopped receiving interest. It mostly belongs to holders who have retired after reaching the age of 55, and no contributions were made for three consecutive years. Contrastingly, for those under the age 55, the account will continue to earn interest until they turn 58.

As of February 2026, data showed there were 3.18 lakh inactive accounts, with Rs 10,181 crores left unclaimed. Among them, around 7 lakh accounts are over 20 years old, while 1.8 lakh accounts are 10 to 20 years old. Approximately 13 lakh inactive accounts are aged between 5 and 10 years old.

In February, a notification informed that dormant accounts, with balances less than or amounting to Rs 1000, will see the said amount directly transferred to the Aadhar-linked bank accounts of subscribers.