NEW DELHI: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is set to automatically refund money lying unclaimed in nearly seven lakh small-balance inoperative accounts without requiring any claim application or paperwork from account holders, as part of a new pilot slated to be launched in the coming days, labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya said Monday. The inoperative accounts with balances up to Rs 1,000 will see the amount directly transferred to Aadhar seeded bank account of members, while effort is also being made to successfully track the remaining members with higher unclaimed balances. Under the pilot, nearly Rs 30 crore will be settled. Official data showed that there are nearly 31 lakh inoperative accounts with Rs 10,900 crore. An EPF account becomes inoperative when no contribution is received, and no claim is filed for 36 months after the member becomes eligible for final settlement. Eligibility for final settlement typically arises on retirement after attaining the age of 58 years, permanent migration abroad or in case of death of the member. Merely leaving a job or not contributing to the EPF for a few years does not automatically make an account inoperative.
