Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has introduced an online helpdesk to help members trace out their "inoperative accounts". The provident fund body will also assist the members in claiming the money lying in the accounts.



Provident fund accounts which fail to make contributions for 36 continuous months to the retirement fund body are classified as inoperative accounts. And interest is not credited to these accounts from the date on which they turn inoperative. The EPFO had stopped crediting interest in the inoperative account from April 1, 2011. A whopping Rs 27,500 crore of provident fund money is lying with Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in inoperative accounts, as of March 2014.



The web helpdesk is meant to help EFPO members trace out their provident fund numbers or find the total fund accumulated, Central Provident Fund Commissioner KK Jalan told NDTV. Many subscribers don't remember their provident fund details so this helpdesk is meant to trace them out, he added.



Subscribers are meant to fill in some details like company name, year of working etc so that the helpdesk can assist in finding other details.



This online helpdesk can be accessed through EPFO's website. After the members provide the details available with them about the inoperative accounts, a reference ID is created for future reference and tracking.





Based on the reference ID generated, the field office concerned (where the member held his PF account) shall contact the member and guide subscribers in getting the settlement or effecting the PF transfer as the case may be.

If the details are traced, then the helpdesk will guide the subscribers for transferring the amount lying in inoperative account to their existing accounts, Mr Jalan said. The subscribers can also withdraw money from the inoperative accounts by filling the claim form. EPFO has a web facility which helps users to transfer their old account dues to existing accounts.The decision to set up the helpdesk follows instruction given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of the 'Shrameva Jayate' programme in October last year regarding the settlement of inoperative accounts.