According to a Finance Ministry notification on March 18, deposits, unclaimed for over seven years, of EPF, PPF and small saving schemes such as Post Office Savings Accounts, Post Office Recurring Deposit Accounts and National Savings Certificates subscribers will be diverted towards setting up a Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund. According to the rules, the concerned government office “shall try to contact” every account holder of the unclaimed deposits through written notice, e-mail or telephone at least two times in 60 days before transferring the amount to the Senior Citizens’ Welfare Fund.
The EPF board had, earlier this week, rolled back a 2011 decision to stop interest credits on inoperative PF accounts. Now, while such accounts will continue to get interest credits, the entire balance could be lost to the Senior Citizens' Fund after seven years of inactivity, though it's not clear how this will be implemented.
