PF Interest - Denied As Inactive Account

Hi all,

I need a legal opinion on this issue.

I was employed with ICICI Bank (2004-2006), which maintains a Trust A/c for PF. In 2006, I joined an organization that holds a PF account with the EPFO Pune. I had submitted my request for the transfer of PF funds from ICICI to my new PF account with EPFO Pune through my organization. I was told the transfer would take place in 18-24 months as it was manually done.

In 2010, when the government passed the rule for non-payment of interest, I checked my accounts and was shocked that it was not done. I started a follow-up with the PF office as my organization raised their hands to help me in the follow-up. EPF informed that the forms were lost in shifting, and hence I needed to submit new forms again. I had submitted around 6 times within a span of 1.5 years, and then I stopped and raised my concern with the PF office for misplacing forms regularly and stopped submission. Whenever a grievance was raised online to EPFO, the reply was - transaction in process forms sent. Later in 2012/2013, EPF office came up with a reply that EPF does not process requests for the transfer of funds from trust a/cs and it had to be initiated directly with ICICI. In vain, I submitted forms directly to ICICI, and they processed very quickly and sent the funds but paid interest only till August 2009. Since I had lost interest on the amount from 2009 - 2013, I again claimed/complained to EPF for payment of the same since the forms were submitted to them in 2006-2008 itself but they have not acted on it. Had they even intimated this during 2009-2013, I would have not lost the interest as I would have initiated the transfer directly.

It's a loss of around 40K.

Please help.

Is the EPF not responsible for this loss of mine? Was the staff not aware of the old rule earlier? When I complained regularly, on what basis can they reject the plea of interest payment/loss that I had incurred?

Also, they have informed that I need to check with my company/ICICI for interest payment.

I do not understand why I need to go to ICICI/my organization as the forms were with EPFO Pune, and they had not acted upon it at the right time - neither rejected my form nor informed me but only lost and always said it was in transit.

Your advice/help would be really helpful and appreciated.

Dear Kavita2803,

If you have proof of submission of the PF transfer form through your present employer to RPFC Pune within a due course of your joining, as well as proofs of your follow-ups and resubmissions of the forms six times during the span of 1 1/2 years after 2010, you need to make a proper representation with RPFC Pune to receive the due credit of interest in your account. You should receive the interest in these circumstances since it is not your fault.

ICICI is correct in not giving you interest after 2009, as your account with them has been inactive since August 2006 onwards. Additionally, ICICI will not bear the burden of interest when they are not at fault, and someone else is responsible.

Please let me know if you need any further assistance.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I made several representations, spoke with the commissioner, and submitted a letter with all the proofs. However, I have been denied the interest payment. Therefore, I wanted to know the best way to present this case and ensure I receive the interest amount.

We did face the same problem with one of our employees, who retired in 2012. But his PF was with EPFO since the beginning.

In his case, he was transferred from one of our sister companies to another sister company in 2004, and we had submitted his transfer form more than 5 times. We had an acknowledgment copy of nearly all the transfer forms. He retired in July 2012, and his PF got transferred in November 2012, and after that, he received his PF dues. As per EPFO rules, an interest amount of around Rs. 1 lakh was not given to him.

The clerk handling our account at EPFO informed me that he would not get his interest amount at any cost. Hence, we drafted a letter to the PF commissioner with acknowledgment copies of all Form 13 [transfer forms] and submitted the letter, taking the acknowledgment on this letter. I also met the commissioner, and he asked me to meet the chief cashier there. The clerk was called and asked for a complete report in writing for the non-transfer of PF to his new account. This case was resolved, and our employee received this interest amount in full.

Hence, I would suggest you follow the same procedure.

Please submit a letter in writing and take acknowledgment. Also, you can put up this case in Lok Adalat of EPFO. You can find out the date of this Lok Adalat from their website or their office.

Hope this will resolve your problem, and you get your dues.

All the best!

I do not think that you will be able to get any interest from RPFC for the simple reason that he was not having your money with him to pay interest on it for whatever delay that has happened. The money was with ICICI. They have given interest as per the law. You cannot claim interest from another agency that did not have the money in the first place! RPFC may have erred in not informing you of the rule position correctly and advising you to process the case with ICICI in the first place. But that is only a mistake. For that, you can at best ask for compensation under some other law but cannot claim interest under the EPF Act and scheme. You should, therefore, explore the other possibilities in consultation with a lawyer instead of wasting your time with RPFC, claiming interest.