Can you contribute to EPF voluntarily after leaving service?

Employees' Provident Fund is a retirement savings scheme in India in which employers and employees contribute to the fund, which is usually 12% of the employee’s salary. Managed by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), employees earn interest on the accumulated amount under the scheme. 

Some people wonder if they will still be able to contribute to the fund after they lose their job or leave it for any reason. Let’s find out. 

What happens to your EPF after you leave the service?

If you leave or lose a job, you can’t make any voluntary contributions to your EPF account. As per the EPFO, the EPF schemes require both the employer and the employee to make matching contributions. Without the employer portion, employees can’t make voluntary contributions. 

In the FAQs on the EPFO website, to the question if an employee can contribute to the EPF after leaving the service, the EPFO has answered:

“No. In the absence of wages & Employer, no recovery can be affected. Any contribution by the member must be matched with the employer’s share of contribution.”

What about the interest?

An EPF account becomes inactive if there are no contributions to the account for 36 months (3 years). So, after an employee leaves their job or retires, the account will become dormant after three years and will stop earning interest. 

As per paragraph 60(6) of EPF Scheme, 1952, no interest will be credited to the EPF account from the date it becomes inoperative under paragraph 72(6) of EPF Scheme, 1952.

However, for the three years after unemployment/retirement that the account remains active, the employee will continue to earn the interest on the rate decided by the government.