For the working class, Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account is a great means of future security. However, there are lakhs of such PF accounts in the country which are completely inoperative for the last several years. Recently, during the monsoon session of Parliament, very shocking figures have come out from the government regarding these inactive accounts. According to the information given by the Ministry of Labor and Employment, a huge jump has been registered in the number of unclaimed and stalled EPF accounts in the country, after which concern has increased among the employed people.
Inactive EPF accounts increased by 84% in four years
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Labor and Employment Shobha Karandlaje said that between the financial year 2020-21 to 2023-24, there has been a huge increase of 84 percent in the number of inoperative EPF accounts in the country. According to government data, the total number of such inactive accounts in the year 2020-21 was 11,72,923, which has directly increased to 21,55,387 in the financial year 2023-24. Along with this, continuous changes have also been seen in the figures of amounts deposited in these accounts which have not been settled. The special thing is that during these four years, the average deposit amount in each inactive account has also registered an increase of 18 percent, which was Rs 33,513 in 2020-21 and has increased to Rs 39,460 in 2023-24.
What is the main reason behind account deactivation?
The government has clarified that the biggest reason for PF accounts becoming inactive is that after changing or leaving the job, employees do not claim on time to transfer or withdraw their funds. Apart from this, during the recent KYC and Aadhaar seeding drives, many such accounts have been identified which were earlier not kept in the inactive category due to non-completion of necessary information like date of birth, but have now come under this category.
Steps being taken by government and EPFO
To deal with the problem of these dormant accounts and unclaimed funds, the government and the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) have taken several important steps. The government has included provisions in the revised EPF schemes through which PF claims can be auto-initiated, so that funds are transferred directly to the employee’s Aadhaar-seeded bank account. Additionally, through awareness campaigns like ‘Nidhi Aapke Nicht 2.0’ and social media platforms, EPFO is making employers and employees aware of inactive accounts and services so that people can claim their money on time.