EPFO: What Should You Do If Your Account Is Inactive?
An EPF account is considered inactive if no contribution is made by the employee or the employer for at least three years.
One of the most important retirement savings schemes in India is the Employee Provident Fund (EPF). It involves a monthly contribution by the employee based on the basic salary and the dearness allowance. A matching amount is also contributed by the employer every month.
EPF is one of the most popular schemes to build a retirement corpus for salaried employees in the private sector. The government fixes the EPF interest rates periodically.
However, if no contribution is made for a continuous period of 36 months, an EPF account turns inactive. It’s also known as an inoperative or dormant account.
Here’s what you should do if your EPF account has turned inoperative.
How to unblock an inactive EPF account?
If the inactive EPF account does not have a Universal Account Number (UAN), then it needs to be created. To create a new UAN for an inactive account or to link an existing UAN with a PF account, you need to visit the EPFO field office.
To schedule an appointment, you can visit the EPFiGMS (EPF i-Grievance Management System) portal. In case it is not possible to visit the office, you can submit a request for UAN generation online and an official from the EPFO will visit your home for biometric verification and UAN generation.
Further, your EPF account must be seeded with your KYC (Know Your Customer) details. Before trying to unblock your EPF account, you must ensure that your KYC is accurate and updated. To verify your identity, you can submit documents such as an Aadhaar card and a PAN card.
Here are the steps you need to follow to unblock an inactive EPF account:
1. Visit the EPFO’s Unified Member portal and log in with your UAN and password.
2. Find the “Help Desk” option on the dashboard and click on it.
3. Select the option for “Inoperative Account Assistance”.
4. Enter the necessary information and follow the on-screen instructions to submit your request for unblocking the EPF account.
Once you complete these steps, your EPF account should be unblocked in 20 to 25 days. If you face any errors while going through the request submission process, you can file a complaint on the EPFiGMS portal. You can track the status of your application on the EPFO portal.
