As of now, there are more than 30.91 lakh inoperative Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) accounts, locking approximately ₹9,330 crore
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The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is expected to roll out its ‘E-PRAAPTI’ digital initiative by the end of this month, allowing subscribers to track and link old or inactive provident fund (PF) accounts holding idle funds without any hassle.As of now, there are more than 30.91 lakh inoperative Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) accounts, locking approximately ₹9,330 crore for ages. Meanwhile, close to 8 crore members actively contribute to their PF accounts monthly across 7.89 lakh establishments. An account becomes inoperative if no contribution is received for three consecutive years.The EPFO is conducting trials for a back-end software upgrade to stabilise a national database of EPF subscribers across the country for the E-PRAAPTI platform, sources from the Ministry of Labour and Employment said.The digital scheme will eliminate the time-consuming, cumbersome process a member must undergo, from visiting a regional EPFO office to filling out an application to check the status or withdraw funds due to them, sources stated.Not only does it cut down on physical ordeals, but it also removes the reliance on past employers for profile verification.The E-PRAAPTI uses secure Aadhaar-based verification for login and to trace old and scattered deposits, without initially requiring full documentation.It is designed to benefit EPFO members who have old Member Identification Numbers (MIDs)—a unique alphanumeric account number allotted to track PF contributions before the Universal Account Number (UAN) replaced it in October 2014—but who have not been able to access their money for various reasons, rendering the account inoperative. The MIDs have been allotted since the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme came into existence in 1952.Once the platform is up and running, a subscriber will need to fill out an online form providing their EPF details and other information required for processing the case. If a MID matches a UAN, the application for either merging the old PF or PFs with the latest one, or for their withdrawal, will be processed automatically if all conditions are met, sources explained.Another possibility E-PRAAPTI would offer, as per sources, is that if a subscriber has a MID, then he or she would be assigned a new UAN number for further transactions. However, if the subscriber does not have a MID, then the online application would be forwarded to the concerned EPFO office for verification of the identity before finalising the case, sources stated.The effort is part of the larger EPFO reform 2.01.Published on August 4, 2026
