What about inactive EPF account? EPFO said what to do in that case

EPFO Inactive Account: Recently, EPFO disclosed information regarding inactive EPF accounts under its purview. As per the data, until March 2024, there were 21.55 lakh inactive accounts in EPFO. This indicates that the account owner did not request a withdrawal. These accounts hold a sum of Rs 8505.23 crore. This raises the issue of when an account becomes inactive and the process to reactivate it if necessary. We will provide all the answers to these questions for you.

Know the EPFO regulations in details

As per EPFO regulations, an EPF account is deemed inactive if no funds are deposited for three consecutive years. Moreover, when the EPFO member turns 58, the account is also deemed inactive. In the past five years, there has been a sharp rise in the number of idle EPFO accounts as per EPFO data. During the fiscal year 2018-19, EPFO had a total of 6.91 lakh inactive accounts.

This data demonstrates a consistent rise in the number of inactive EPFO accounts. EPFO states that a closed or inactive account has the ability to be reactivated. After activating the account, the member can then access the deposited amount. How can the account be reactivated now? In order to activate the account, you must visit the EPFO office. You must apply in order to activate the account. Once you have obtained the UAN number, your inactive account will be reactivated.

Nevertheless, the account will become fully active once the KYC process is finalized. Nevertheless, you will still need to complete your e-KYC in order to proceed. After linking the e-KYC and UAN number to the account, the deposited amount in the account will be accessible.