The government has fixed an annual interest rate of 8.25% on the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for FY 2024-25. However, this interest is calculated on the closing balance of the account every month and deposits in your account once a year. But, if your EPF account remains inactive for 36 months continuously, that is, during that time there is no transaction of deposits or withdrawal, then interest will be stopped on that account. This rule is clearly stated by EPFO on social media on 27 August 2025.
What is the meaning of passive EPF account?
According to the EPFO, an account is considered inactive when there is no financial activity for three years, except for interest credit. The special thing is that after retirement, the EPF account remains active for only 3 years. That is, after retiring at the age of 55, your account will continue to earn interest till the age of 58, after that it will become inactive. In such a situation, if you have changed the job, then it is necessary to get an old account transfer by opening a new EPF account. On the other hand, if you are not doing a job at the moment, then it would be better to take out the EPF fund in time, so that your money is not inactive.
Keep EPF account active
EPFO has clearly stated on its official social media channel that if your EPF account is more inactive than 36 months, then it becomes in -operative and will not get interest on it. Therefore, working members have been advised to transfer their old EPF account to the new EPF account immediately. And those who are not working right now, start the process of extracting their EPF funds so that there is no loss of interest.
EPFO 3.0 is coming soon
EPFO is going to launch its digital platform EPFO 3.0 soon. This new service was earlier to be launched in June 2025, but it was delayed due to technical reasons. The purpose of EPFO 3.0 is to speed up claim processing and provide new digital facilities to users like EPF withdrawing directly through UPI. For this project, EPFO has shortlisted three major IT companies Infosys, TCS and Wipro which will help in its implementation, operation and maintenance.