The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has around Rs.27,000 crore lying in inoperative accounts. There are chances that a small portion of this unclaimed money is yours. Many employees feel that the EPF account transfer is a cumbersome process and is a painful experience. It is often observed that we just ignore to transfer the funds to the existing EPF account.
EPFO do not pay interest on the EPF account, where no contributions (no activity) have been received for 36 or more months continuously. EPFO considers this type of account as an ‘Inoperative EPF Account.’ It is a daunting task to trace an inoperative EPF account and also we hardly get any help or support from EPFO.
In this post, let us understand – How to trace an inoperative EPF account? How to trace an old Employee Provident Fund a/c? What is EPFO’s online inoperative EPF account help-desk? What is the procedure to submit an online request?
Now, things are changing for the better at EPFO. It’s a good time to remember your long forgotten EPF account. And to make your job of staking a claim easier, an EPFO inoperative account online helpdesk has been launched recently.
The helpdesk works on the basis of how much and how accurate is the information that you can provide about your old / dormant EPF account(s). So, the more you provide, the better it is.
After submitting the request to the helpdesk, your query will be forwarded to the concerned EPFO’s Field Officer (Regional office). This happens if you have provided your old company’s code (Establishment code). If you have not provided the establishment code, your query is routed to the centralized EPFO helpdesk. They will call you to get more details and then your query will be forwarded to the concerned field officer to trace the old & inoperative EPF account.
Related Latest Article : Why should you Withdraw Old EPF Account Balance? | In-operative EPF A/c Timeline
How can I check the status of my request on EPF Inoperative Account Helpdesk online portal?
EPFO helpdesk portal has a facility to track the status of your request(s), based on the reference number.
Once your account is traced by the EPFO’s field officer, you will be notified through an SMS. You need to either withdraw the monies (by submitting Form 9) or transfer your old EPF account to your current EPF account.
If you are currently employed and have activated your Universal Account Number (UAN), link the old EPF account with your current EPF Account. Once the linking is complete, you can transfer the EPF funds online.
Trace and track your old EPF accounts. Even if the amount of your claim is small, reclaim it NOW. Kindly share your views on EPF inoperative EPF account help-desk facility. Cheers!
Latest Update (30-March-2016) : The Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has decided to provide Interest on Inoperative Accounts from 1st April, 2016.
Latest News (31-Oct-2016) : ‘Rate of Interest on Inoperative EPF accounts’ – EPFO to pay 8.8% as interest on Inoperative EPF (Employee Provident Fund) accounts. In case of EPF, if there is no contribution paid during the last 36 months, then that account is classified as “inoperative”. The inoperative accounts are not being paid interest since 2011. Around Rs 42,000 crore is lying in “inoperative accounts” across the country. About 9.70 crore employees will benefit from this proposed notification. Henceforth, the concept of Inoperative accounts will cease to exist. (Source : PTI & Union Labour Ministry)
Latest update (16-Nov-2017) : If an employee who is a member of EPF scheme, quits or retires from his employment and continues holding the accumulated PF balance, he/she has to pay tax on interest from the date of unemployment. So, the interest on EPF is tax-exempt only when the member is employed and the Interest credited to an employee provident fund (EPF) account after an individual ceases to be in employment is taxable in his/her hands in the year of credit. Interest that has been accrued post employment is taxable. This is as per the recent order by Income tax appellate Tribunal.
(Source: Times of India & Moneycontrol)
Continue Reading : ‘How to search, find and reclaim monies lying in inoperative Bank Accounts?’
(Reference : EPFO User Manual. Photo Credit : rediff.com)
This post was last modified on July 10, 2023 6:30 pm
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View Comments
I don't have PF number of my old company and I raised a request with the respective EPF office after tracking the employer details in the EPF portal but they have not found any account dormant in my name they say. Is there a way to track the same.
Dear rajeshwarie,
You may contact your Ex-employer and try to find out the EPF a/c number. Is this possible?
Hi,
While using transfer PF online portal, I am getting wrong name and other details when I enter my previous pf account number. Whom should I contact and how? Should I contact my previous employer or some organisation from government? If some organisation , which one? Please help and advise.
Dear Gunjan,
You can contact EPFO directly. Visit nearest EPFO office
You may have to submit some KYC documents to modify your personal details.
nice and helpful article -- Thx
Hai sree, I had my PF account in the year of 2005. Is there any problem to create new PF account today?. Is yes, then how can i trace and find my account number, i do have either salary slip nor ESI number
Dear vivekanandan..Kindly raise a service request as indicated in the article.
whenever I click on Inoperative A/c Helpdesk, its showing network error.This is happening continuously from many days. Is there any other option?
Dear Vikram... even heard the same from few blog visitors, I guess the EPFO's websites and its online services are being upgraded. They had displayed 'maintenance message' last few days. Kindly check out after couple of days.
I've worked for a company named American Remedies during 1997 to 1998 , for around a year . Latter as per my information the company was bought over by Dr Reddy , My PF amount was with American Remedies now can I approach Dr Reddy for this claim ..? If yes how to approach like any email id of account dept as i tried to call them on phone the response is not good.
Dear Manoj,
If you have old EPF ac details , suggest you raise a Service request using EPFO's helpdesk as indicated in the above article.
Dear srikant
3 1/2 years ago, I worked for a company for 5 Years. I hadn't with Drawn the amount or Transfer it to the Current Employee Account. But when i had checked the Previous PF status it was showing the below message.
Your Account has been marked as In-operative Account. For details please contact respective EPF Office.
Now my Current Employer will be creating UAN Account(Universal Account No). Can i transfer the Old PF Account no to UAN even if the old PF account status is and In-operative Account. Do i need to follow the steps for Inoperative account and follow with the EPFO helpdesk
Dear Kishore,
Yes you can raise a 'Service request' through helpdesk portal and link your old EPF a/c with your UAN and transfer the monies.
Hi Sreekanth,
How to raise 'Service request through helpdesk portal. Is there any link available. How much time it will to transfer the money to UAN
Dear Kishore,
Did you go through the above article??
Dear srikant
7 years ago, I worked for a company for about 10 months(06/2007 to 04/2008).After leaving the company i did not receive my pf.
I have provided details for my account tracing in EPFO Inoperative Account Help Desk Portal.
Nearly after a week i have logged in to check for an update,
then a popup displayed saying "Your case has been disposed.Thankyou",
and in the messages column i got 2 messages
1) "From the information provided, as per our records your Member A/c is settled. However case is transferred to concerned field office.you will be contacted shortly."
2) "Please mention your Problem."
Now what i want to ask you is I have not understood the messages sent by helpdesk.
what does concerned field office mean?
In the 2nd message they asked me to mention my problem, I dont know how to mention the problem as there is no edit/ submit option.
Also kindly tell me the detailed procedure to get the PF money into bank account for the period from june 2007 to april 2008.
Dear Sirish,
Looks like, as per EPFo's records your PF money was already transferred. But, they have transferred your request to the concerned Regional EPF office to verify
the matter. The regional PF office may contact you at the earliest. Do provide all the details that you have to them.
Dear srikath,
When I have filled the EPFO inoperative accounts helpdest & I am clicking generate pin it is not responding or generating the pin & the page is stopped when I am doing this.
Please help me regarding this.
Dear Mohan,
Try to fill the details and submit again (or) try after sometime.
when i am check my last company EPF balance i got Error.
( Your Account has been marked as In-operative Account. For details please contact respective EPF Office.)
what should i do i have all details .
Dear Sameer,
Submit the request as mentioned in the above article. Or you can approach the concerned EPFO regional office. The addresses are available on EPFO's websites.