Every number, and where it came from
If a figure appears anywhere on this site, it is here with its source. Where a number is our own arithmetic rather than a measurement, it is labelled as an estimate at the same size as the number itself.
| Figure | Source |
|---|---|
| ~7.96 crore EPF claims filed, ~1.74 crore rejected (FY 2024-25); about one in five | Reporting on EPFO's annual report. Business Today, 7 Jul 2026 |
| Final-settlement rejection rose from ~13% to ~34% over five years | Indian Express |
| ~₹9,330 crore in 30,91,862 inoperative EPF accounts (31 Mar 2026). Down from ₹10,181 crore in 31.83 lakh accounts a year earlier. Average per account ~₹30,178, and that average is our own division, not a figure anyone published | RTI reply, via Business Today. Corrected: this row previously said ~₹39,460. It was wrong, it was nobody's figure, and it did not divide out of the two numbers beside it — ₹39,460 would need a corpus of ₹12,200 crore. The source states no average at all |
| 98.70% of claims settled within 20 days (Apr 2026); ₹5 lakh auto-settlement | Zee, Livemint |
| 2026 waiting periods: 12 months for premature final settlement, 36 months for the EPS withdrawal benefit | Written reply of the Minister of State for Labour and Employment in the Lok Sabha, 10 Aug 2026, via Livemint. A reply in Parliament is a primary source; it was read as reported rather than from the record of the House |
| 25% minimum retention, stated as a minimum balance of 25% of aggregate contributions | Read from the gazette by EY India's alert on the notified schemes. EPF Scheme 2026 was published in the Official Gazette on 1 July 2026; EPS 2026 and EDLI 2026 on 30 June 2026 |
| The Joint Declaration has eleven parameters, not twelve. Nationality is number 10. Minor corrections need at least 2 documents, major ones at least 3 | EPFO Standard Operating Procedure No. JD/2024/1 Version 2.0, read directly. Two secondary sources disagreed on the count, which is why this was an open question rather than a footnote |
| The guardianship certificate for a minor's death claim has been withdrawn, provided the money goes to the child's own account | EPFO circular No. WSU/Death claims/E-1115891/2025-26/25, via Deloitte India's alert, 15 Sep 2025 |
| EPFO's 20-day charter; 135 field offices | EPFiGMS |
| ~35 lakh fewer files re-opened a year | Our own estimate from the figures above. Not a measured result. |
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