Even as the central government has implemented the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme, 2026, to simplify provident fund rules and enhance digital services, an RTI (Right to Information) response has revealed that over ₹9,330 crore remains unclaimed in 30.91 lakh inoperative EPF accounts across India.
The new EPF scheme, 2026, came into effect on June 29, 2026, replacing the decades-old EPF Scheme, 1952. The revised framework will streamline provident fund regulations, make it easier for people to access it online, and benefit nearly eight crore active EPFO subscribers.
However, even in spite of these reforms, the RTI results demonstrate a great problem: millions of workers' retirement savings are still locked in dormant EPF accounts.
According to the EPFO data (March 31, 2026), there are 30,91,862 inoperative EPF accounts with an unclaimed balance of ₹9,330 crore.
While these numbers are slightly better than the previous year, the amount involved is still considerable. On March 31, 2025, there were 31.83 lakh dormant accounts with an unclaimed balance of ₹10,181 crore. In the last year, the number of inactive accounts has dropped by around 92,000 while the unclaimed amount has dropped by nearly ₹851 crore.
Despite this decline, nearly 31 lakh dormant accounts hold retirement savings that have yet to be claimed by their rightful owners.
The amount of unclaimed corpus is even more striking when compared with major government spending. The ₹9,330 crore lying idle in dormant EPF accounts is almost equivalent to the Centre’s expenditure of ₹10,169 crore on the UDAN regional connectivity scheme since its launch in 2016.
Similarly, the amount is close to the Union government's allocation for the Ayushman Bharat–Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) for the financial year 2026-27.
The RTI response also points out that, based on inflation-adjusted estimates, the unclaimed EPF corpus would be sufficient to fund the establishment of about three Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), illustrating the enormous value of retirement savings lying unused.
To gain a better insight into the long-term trend, we sought information about dormant EPF accounts over the past six years. However, the EPFO told us that it could only provide data for 2025 and 2026, as its Inoperative Accounts Cell (IAC) was established only during the 2025-26 financial year and older records were not maintained by the cell.
The RTI application also sought details on inoperative EPF accounts linked to Aadhaar and the status of auto-settlement of such accounts. The EPFO declined to disclose this information under Section 8(1)(e) of the RTI Act, which protects information held by a public authority in a fiduciary capacity.
The EPFO also said that there is no separate data on dormant accounts with balances exceeding ₹5 lakh and thus it cannot provide such information under the RTI Act.
The findings underscore widespread problems in India's retirement savings system. While the EPF scheme by 2026 will help the system to be more efficient and accessible, lakhs of inactive accounts and thousands of crores in unclaimed retirement savings remain a worry. People with previous work experience should regularly access their EPF account, update KYC details, and transfer old provident fund balances when they switch jobs to avoid accounts becoming inoperative.
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