Moneycontrol: National: Saturday, 04 July 2026.
According to the RTI reply, as of March 31, 2026, there were 30,91,862 inoperative EPF accounts with an unclaimed balance of around Rs 9,330 crore.
More than Rs 9,330 crore
belonging to employees continues to remain unclaimed in 30.91 lakh inoperative
Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) accounts across India, according to information
shared by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in response to a
Right to Information (RTI) application accessed by India Today.
The disclosure comes shortly after the Centre brought the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme, 2026 into force. Notified in the Gazette and effective from June 29, the new framework replaces the EPF Scheme, 1952, and is intended to simplify provident fund regulations while making the system more digital for nearly eight crores active EPFO subscribers.
According to the RTI reply, as of March 31, 2026, there were 30,91,862 inoperative EPF accounts with an unclaimed balance of around Rs 9,330 crore.
The figures indicate a slight improvement from the previous financial year. On March 31, 2025, there were 31.83 lakh inoperative accounts with unclaimed deposits totalling Rs 10,181 crore. Over the next year, the number of dormant accounts fell by around 92,000, while the unclaimed amount declined by Rs 851 crore to Rs 9,330 crore. Despite the reduction, the data points to nearly 31 lakh inactive accounts still holding workers' retirement savings.
To illustrate the size of the unclaimed corpus, the India Today report compared it with major government expenditure. The Rs 9,330 crore lying in dormant EPF accounts is close to the Rs 10,169 crore spent by the Centre on the UDAN regional connectivity scheme since its launch in 2016. It is also nearly equal to the Union government's allocation for the Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) for 2026-27.
The report also referred to a 2014 government estimate that pegged the cost of establishing an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Rs 1,750 crore. After adjusting for inflation, the report said the cost would be around Rs 2,934 crore in 2026, meaning the unclaimed EPF amount "could fund three IITs, with over Rs 500 crore still left over." It added that "The comparison is illustrative and highlights the scale of workers' retirement savings lying dormant in EPF accounts."
India Today had also sought year-wise information on inoperative EPF accounts and the money lying in them for the previous five financial years to assess long-term trends. However, the EPFO said it could provide data only for 2025 and 2026. In its response, the organisation stated that "the Inoperative Accounts Cell (IAC) was established during 2025-26, and information for earlier years is not maintained by the cell."
The RTI application further sought details of Aadhaar-linked inoperative accounts, the amount held in such accounts, and the status of auto-settlement. The EPFO declined to share the information, citing Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act, which exempts information held by a public authority in a fiduciary relationship from disclosure.
The organisation also did not provide details on the number of dormant EPF accounts with balances exceeding Rs 5 lakh, stating that such information "is not maintained in the format sought" and therefore could not be furnished under the RTI Act.
According to the RTI reply, as of March 31, 2026, there were 30,91,862 inoperative EPF accounts with an unclaimed balance of around Rs 9,330 crore.
The disclosure comes shortly after the Centre brought the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme, 2026 into force. Notified in the Gazette and effective from June 29, the new framework replaces the EPF Scheme, 1952, and is intended to simplify provident fund regulations while making the system more digital for nearly eight crores active EPFO subscribers.
According to the RTI reply, as of March 31, 2026, there were 30,91,862 inoperative EPF accounts with an unclaimed balance of around Rs 9,330 crore.
The figures indicate a slight improvement from the previous financial year. On March 31, 2025, there were 31.83 lakh inoperative accounts with unclaimed deposits totalling Rs 10,181 crore. Over the next year, the number of dormant accounts fell by around 92,000, while the unclaimed amount declined by Rs 851 crore to Rs 9,330 crore. Despite the reduction, the data points to nearly 31 lakh inactive accounts still holding workers' retirement savings.
To illustrate the size of the unclaimed corpus, the India Today report compared it with major government expenditure. The Rs 9,330 crore lying in dormant EPF accounts is close to the Rs 10,169 crore spent by the Centre on the UDAN regional connectivity scheme since its launch in 2016. It is also nearly equal to the Union government's allocation for the Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) for 2026-27.
The report also referred to a 2014 government estimate that pegged the cost of establishing an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Rs 1,750 crore. After adjusting for inflation, the report said the cost would be around Rs 2,934 crore in 2026, meaning the unclaimed EPF amount "could fund three IITs, with over Rs 500 crore still left over." It added that "The comparison is illustrative and highlights the scale of workers' retirement savings lying dormant in EPF accounts."
India Today had also sought year-wise information on inoperative EPF accounts and the money lying in them for the previous five financial years to assess long-term trends. However, the EPFO said it could provide data only for 2025 and 2026. In its response, the organisation stated that "the Inoperative Accounts Cell (IAC) was established during 2025-26, and information for earlier years is not maintained by the cell."
The RTI application further sought details of Aadhaar-linked inoperative accounts, the amount held in such accounts, and the status of auto-settlement. The EPFO declined to share the information, citing Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act, which exempts information held by a public authority in a fiduciary relationship from disclosure.
The organisation also did not provide details on the number of dormant EPF accounts with balances exceeding Rs 5 lakh, stating that such information "is not maintained in the format sought" and therefore could not be furnished under the RTI Act.
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