More than ₹9,330 crore remains unclaimed in nearly 31 lakh inoperative Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) accounts across India, according to an RTI response, highlighting the scale of retirement savings that continue to lie dormant even as the Centre rolls out the new EPF Scheme, 2026.
The RTI findings show that as of March 31, 2026, approximately ₹9,330 crore was lying unclaimed in 30,91,862 inoperative EPF accounts. The disclosure comes after the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme, 2026 came into effect on June 29, replacing the EPF Scheme, 1952, with the stated objective of simplifying provident fund rules and making the system more digital for nearly eight crore active subscribers.
RTI reveals only modest decline in dormant accounts
According to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the number of inoperative EPF accounts fell by around 92,000 over the previous financial year, declining from 31.83 lakh as of March 31, 2025, to 30.91 lakh a year later. However, the unclaimed amount reduced by ₹851 crore during the same period, from ₹10,181 crore to ₹9,330 crore.
The RTI response notes that despite this improvement, the volume of unclaimed retirement savings remains significant, with nearly 31 lakh dormant accounts still awaiting claims.
Scale of unclaimed funds highlighted
The report compares the unclaimed corpus with major public expenditure to illustrate its magnitude. It notes that the ₹9,330 crore lying in dormant EPF accounts is almost equal to the Centre’s spending on the UDAN regional connectivity scheme since its launch in 2016.
It also states that the amount is nearly equivalent to the Union government’s 2026-27 allocation for Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Referring to a 2014 government estimate, the report says that after adjusting for inflation, the corpus would be sufficient to fund three Indian Institutes of Technology, with more than ₹500 crore remaining.
EPFO withholds some information under RTI
The RTI application also sought details of Aadhaar-linked inoperative EPF accounts, the amount held in those accounts and the status of their auto-settlement. The EPFO declined to disclose this information, citing Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act, which exempts information held in a fiduciary relationship from disclosure.
The organisation also said it could not provide data on the number of dormant EPF accounts with balances exceeding ₹5 lakh, stating that such information is not maintained in the format requested. Additionally, it informed the applicant that the Inoperative Accounts Cell was established during 2025-26 and therefore earlier year-wise information is not maintained by the cell.
