Many people have lost their jobs during the Corona period. Many people have also had to withdraw money from their Provident Fund (PF). Provident fund money for working people is their lifetime income. PF account is the savings made for the future of every employee. But many times the PF account of the employees gets closed due to lack of information or due to some mistakes. Therefore, you should take special care of some things. Let us know in which situations your PF account can be closed.
When employees change jobs, they have to transfer their PF account from the old company to the new company. If they did not do so and the old company closed, then your PF account may be closed. This will happen only if there is no transaction in the account for 36 months. That is, neither the money was put in it nor it was withdrawn. If there is no transaction with the PF account for 36 months, then the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) puts such accounts in the ‘inoperative’ category.
Apart from this, your PF account becomes inactive even if the members permanently settle abroad. It is considered to be inoperative even after the death of the member or if he withdraws the entire retirement fund.
To reopen an inactive PF account, you have to use the application in EPFO. Know that even after being inactive, you continue to get interest on the money deposited in the account. That is, your money is not lost. You can withdraw those money. The helpdesk was started by EPFO to settle such accounts. Earlier these accounts did not get interest, but in the year 2016, the rules were amended and interest was started. The interest on the PF account continues till you are 58 years old.
Money is transferred to SCWF.
If the account remains inactive for seven years, the balance is not transferred to the Senior Citizen Welfare Fund (SCWF) if the balance is not claimed. This amount lasts for 25 years in SCWF. During this time you can claim the amount. The government also pays interest on this fund.