EPFO inoperative accounts refund

New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): In a major pro-worker initiative, the Ministry of Labour and Employment announced on Monday that small balances in approximately 6 lakh "inoperative" accounts within the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will be refunded automatically. This move eliminates the need for formal claims or arduous paperwork, providing direct relief to hundreds of thousands of account holders. Currently, the EPFO manages roughly 31 lakh inoperative accounts—defined as those with no activity for three consecutive years. Of these, nearly 6 lakh accounts hold balances of ₹1,000 or less. For accounts already linked with Aadhaar, the ministry confirmed that transfers…