The Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) is a retirement savings scheme for salaried employees in India, under which both the employee and employer contribute a portion of the employee's salary every month. The accumulated corpus, along with applicable benefits, is paid to the employee upon retirement or to eligible beneficiaries in certain circumstances.
To ensure these savings are transferred smoothly to eligible family members, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) advises subscribers to register a nominee in their EPF account.
What happens if no nominee is registered?
If an EPFO member dies without registering a nominee, the accumulated EPF balance and insurance benefits do not lapse. However, the claim process becomes more complex, as eligible family members or legal heirs must submit the required documents before the amount can be released.
According to EPFO rules, when no nominee has been appointed, all eligible family members are entitled to an equal share of the EPF benefits. If there are no eligible family members or legal heirs, the PF corpus is released to the person who is legally entitled to receive it.
While claims with complete documentation are generally processed within seven days, the absence of a nominee can significantly delay the settlement process.
Inoperative EPF accounts
EPFO has also cautioned that an account becomes inoperative if it remains unclaimed for three years. Families and legal heirs are therefore advised to submit claims promptly to avoid unnecessary delays in accessing the benefits.
Who is considered an eligible family member?
Under EPFO rules, the definition of an eligible family member differs for male and female subscribers.
For male members, the eligible family includes the wife, children (married or unmarried), parents, son's widow and children. For female members, the eligible family includes the husband, husband's parents, children (married or unmarried), parents, son's widow and children.
E-nomination facility
To simplify the claim process, EPFO offers an e-nomination facility, enabling members to nominate beneficiaries online. Registering an e-nomination allows eligible family members to claim EPF, Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) and insurance benefits without having to visit EPFO offices physically.
To complete the e-nomination process, subscribers must have an Aadhaar-linked Universal Account Number (UAN), a mobile number linked to Aadhaar, and updated personal details, including their photograph and address, on the EPFO portal. They must also provide the nominee's Aadhaar details, bank account information and photograph.
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