The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has just embarked on an unusual and massive manhunt. And it’s not defaulting employers they are after, but lakhs of employees who have all but forgotten about the balances in their PF accounts. In a meeting with the Standing Parliamentary Committee on Monday, the EPFO indicated that a special drive is being undertaken to find the rightful claimants of the funds parked in its Unclaimed Deposits Account. This includes the PF balances of workers whose claims have been settled but which couldn’t be delivered to them for want of their latest address and of workers who have left the workforce but haven’t claimed their PF money even three years later. The balances in the Unclaimed Deposit Account have risen sharply from Rs 634.57 crore in 2002-3 to Rs 942.95 crore in 2003-4. In 2004-05, the balance marginally dropped to Rs 877.77 crore. An EPFO note on the account explains the reasons behind the rise. Firstly, money in a PF account is exempt from tax and cannot be attached under any recovery proceedings. On top of that, the EPF offers a higher interest rate than the market. Often, members don’t close their accounts even after retirement, as they consider it a safe investment. Also, several members have multiple PF accounts as they don’t close their account, when shifting jobs. For the EPFO, maintaining these accounts is a headache. Not only do they have to continue to pay annual interest on these accounts, operational expenditure on these is also quite high. The EPFO plans to issue advertisements in newspapers informing members about the special drive to settle accounts of members who haven’t contributed to their accounts for over 3 years. Enforcement officers will be deputed to employers who have a high number of such accounts to get such workers’ last known addresses from their records. Individual members will then be sent letters at these addresses. Recognised trade unions of such companies will also be approached for help in finding these workers. An internal audit conducted by the EPFO in 2004 had found that almost 1.98 crore accounts are ‘‘inoperative’’. The balances in these accounts add up to Rs 9,664 crore. Nearly Rs 198 crore was spent in 2004 just to maintain these accounts. Moreover, these accounts earn interest, which ideally should have been apportioned only to the genuine working members of EPFO. Audit in 2004 says • 1.98 cr accounts are ‘‘inoperative’’ • The balances in these accounts add up to Rs 9,664 cr • Nearly Rs 198 crore was spent in 2004 just to maintain these accounts
