In the initial phase, the portal will be member ID based and later the scope of E-PRAAPTI will be expanded to include members who may not be able to recall or access their old members’ IDs. (File photo)
In an attempt to resolve the long-pending issue of unclaimed deposits, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is set to launch a portal for members to access their inoperative accounts through Aadhaar-based authentication. The portal, to be named E-PRAAPTI — EPF Aadhaar-Based Access Portal for Tracking Inoperative Accounts — will be helpful for those EPF members who do not have a Universal Account Number (UAN) and had EPF accounts in the physical mode.
Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the dedicated digital platform would facilitate identification, tracking, UAN linking and activation of old EPF accounts. “The portal will provide a streamlined Aadhaar-based authentication mechanism that will enable members to securely access their old EPF account which may not have an UAN linked with it and initiate the process for updating their member profile, followed by seamless UAN linking and activation,” he said.
In the initial phase, the portal will be member ID based and later the scope of E-PRAAPTI will be expanded to include members who may not be able to recall or access their old members’ IDs. “The platform is expected to reduce manual intervention, minimise documentation, and enhance transparency and efficiency,” an official said.
The existing portal will shut down for 1-2 days to enable migration of the existing system to the new system, the official added.
The EPFO has a total of 31.83 lakh inoperative accounts, of which around 41% have been inoperative for over 5-10 years while about 22% are lying idle for over 20 years. In its meeting in March, the EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees had decided to address this issue by giving a nod for auto-settlement of such inoperative accounts, initially for those with unclaimed balance of Rs 1,000 or less, to their registered bank accounts.
Inoperative accounts are those EPF accounts in which no interest is credited after a specified period. Mainly belonging to EPFO members who have retired after the age of 55 years, an EPF account is treated as inoperative if no contribution is received for a continuous period of three years after the member attains 55 years of age or from the date of retirement, whichever is later. If the member is below the age of 55 and there has been no contribution, such EPF accounts continue to earn interest till the age of 58.
As per data shared in the March meeting, the EPFO has 31.83 lakh such inoperative accounts amounting to Rs 10,181 crore as on March 31, 2025. This excludes international workers.
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To put it in perspective, EPFO has a total of 27.05 lakh establishments under its purview with 34.63 crore members, out of which there are 7.98 lakh contributing establishments and 7.83 crore active contributing members. It has a consolidated corpus of over Rs 28.34 lakh crore.
EPF claims
The EPFO has settled a record 8.31 crore claims in 2025-26 as against 6.01 crore in FY25, Mandaviya said. 5.51 crore claims were advance or partial withdrawals. 71.11% of advance claims were processed in auto mode (processed in three days), up from 59.19% in the previous year. 6.68 crore members were able to file their claims without uploading a cheque leaf image.
About 1.6 crore members were able to seed their bank accounts without seeking employer’s approval, while 70.55 lakh transfer claims were auto-processed without the intervention of either the member or employer. 24.84 lakh transfer requests were initiated by the members themselves without any dependence on the employer. 29.34 lakh members were able to correct their profiles and accessed their PF accounts on their own without any reference to the EPF office or employer.
In the current financial year that started April 1, 61.03 lakh claims have already been settled, with nearly 74% of PF advance claims processed in auto mode and 98.7% of total claims settled in less than 20 days, the Minister said.
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