The Employees Provident Fund Organisation is prioritising the retrieval of unclaimed funds residing in dormant accounts. EPFO will be launching a new initiative to automatically settle dormant EPFO accounts without filing a claim, which will allow subscribers to receive funds automatically in their Aadhaar-seeded bank accounts.
Almost 25% of the dormant accounts, which have been verified through Aadhaar, are on the verge of having their stagnant balances resolved as the EPFO is set to create an automated settlement feature. This will enable account holders to receive their unclaimed funds directly in their bank accounts without the need to submit claims, according to TOI.
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This feature is expected to address approximately 810,000 Aadhaar-verified inactive accounts, totalling around Rs 5,200 crore. Out of these, close to 14,000 accounts have more than Rs 5 lakh left unclaimed. Additionally, there are 38,000 Aadhaar-verified inactive accounts with unclaimed amounts ranging from Rs 1 to 5 lakh and another 41,000 accounts holding between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh.
"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.
Inactive EPFO account
An inactive account in the EPFO is one that has ceased to accrue interest and primarily belongs to members who have retired after reaching the age of 55, with no contributions made for three consecutive years. Conversely, for those under 55, the account will continue to earn interest until the subscriber hits 58.
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As of February 2026, there were 3.18 million inactive accounts, with ₹10,181 crores remaining unclaimed. Among these, approximately 700,000 accounts are over 20 years old, while 180,000 fall within the 10- to 20-year range. Roughly 1.3 million inactive accounts are aged between 5 and 10 years old.
EPF transfer made easy in EPF 3.0
In recent changes discussed in parliament under EPF 3.0 for EPF members, transitioning to a new job will now be much less burdensome. Starting January 19, 2025, the EPFO has rolled out a streamlined transfer procedure. Usually, transfer requests no longer need to be submitted manually; the necessity for employer consent for KYC-compliant accounts has been eliminated, and in numerous cases, the transfer occurs automatically.
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