Is your old money stuck in EPF or LIC? The government gave big information to find out this

By Samira Vishwas On Jul 23, 2026

If you have an old EPF account or any LIC policy which has been stalled or unclaimed for a long time, then this news is directly useful for you. The Central Government has shared very important information in the Parliament regarding the unclaimed money lying with LIC and inactive accounts of EPFO. The government has made it clear that there is no category called unclaimed in EPFO, rather these are called inoperative accounts. Along with this, the government also told what steps are being taken to ensure that this money reaches the rightful recipients.

Inoperative EPF accounts: How much money is deposited?

Lok Sabha MP Dr. M.K. Giving a written reply to Vishnu Prasad’s questions, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that till March 31, 2026, a total of ₹ 9,330.56 crore was deposited in the non-operative accounts of EPFO. The MP had asked how much unclaimed amount is lying with LIC and EPFO and what is the government doing to return it to the rightful owners.

There are no ‘unclaimed’ accounts in EPFO, only ‘inactive’ accounts.

Quoting the Ministry of Labor and Employment, the government clarified that no account is considered ‘unclaimed’ under the EPF scheme. Instead, accounts in which there have been no transactions for a long time are categorized as ‘Inoperative Accounts’. The total amount deposited in these accounts till March 31, 2026 was ₹ 9,330.56 crore. It is important to understand this difference because EPFO does not keep money aside as ‘unclaimed’ like other financial institutions.

What is EPFO doing to return this money?

According to the government, several steps are being taken to get the members back their pending money.

Automatic Claim Settlement (Pilot Project): EPFO has started a special pilot project. Under this, the settlement of Aadhaar-verified inoperative accounts where the amount is ₹ 1,000 or less is being done automatically.
Paperless Transfer: In this process the member does not need to submit any new claim form or document. The money is sent directly to the bank account linked to the member’s Aadhaar.
Plan to increase the scope in future: The aim of the government is to make this process easier. Currently, it is running as a pilot project and after testing, in future it can be implemented on accounts with balance more than ₹ 1,000.

Will this money be used for some other purpose?

The government has clearly said that at present there is no proposal to use the money lying in non-operative accounts for any other work or scheme.

Unclaimed money lying with LIC

The government also gave details of unclaimed money lying with the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC):

As of March 31, 2026, LIC had a total unclaimed fund of policyholders of ₹ 5,564.55 crore.
The interest (accrued earnings) on this amount was ₹1,753.95 crore.
The total amount taken together is ₹7,318.50 crore.

LIC’s steps to find customers

LIC is taking the help of online search facility, SMS reminders, sending letters and credit bureau services to reach out to its policyholders or their heirs so that the customers can be traced.

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