Chandigarh Consumer Commission Pulls Up EPFO for Decade-Long PF Transfer Delay, Awards ₹50,000 Compensation

March 16, 2026 : The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-II, Chandigarh has held the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) guilty of deficiency in service for an inordinate delay of nearly ten years in transferring a subscriber’s provident fund, directing it to pay ₹50,000 as compensation along with litigation costs.

The complaint was filed by Omesh Garg, who had sought transfer of his provident fund accumulations from his earlier employment with Tech Mahindra, Pune to his new account after joining Infosys Limited in July 2010. Despite submitting the transfer request in September 2010 and pursuing the matter through repeated representations and RTI applications, the transfer was effected only on 16 April 2020, when ₹6,21,826 was credited.

Subsequently, EPFO credited additional amounts of ₹3,67,052 in April 2022 and ₹64,841 in June 2022 after re-examining the claim and rectifying issues relating to interest calculation. The complainant, however, alleged that a further sum of ₹1,62,296 remained unpaid.

The Commission examined the competing calculation sheets submitted by both parties but declined to accept the complainant’s claim for additional dues, noting that his computation lacked expert verification while EPFO had provided its own detailed calculations. In the absence of conclusive evidence, the Commission held that it would be unsafe to determine that any further amount was payable.

However, on the issue of delay, the Commission came down firmly against EPFO. It observed that the organisation’s explanation attributing the delay to technical difficulties was unsupported by any documentary evidence and could not justify such prolonged inaction. The Commission held that the unexplained delay of nearly a decade in transferring the provident fund clearly amounted to deficiency in service and unfair trade practice.

Accordingly, the complaint was partly allowed, and EPFO was directed to pay ₹50,000 as a lump sum towards compensation for harassment and litigation expenses. The Commission further ordered compliance within 60 days, failing which the amount would carry interest at 9% per annum from the date of the order until realization.

The order was passed by a Bench comprising President Amrinder Singh Sidhu and Member B.M. Sharma on March 16, 2026.

Case Title: Omesh Garg v. Employees Provident Fund Organisation
Case No.: Consumer Complaint No. DC/AB1/44/CC/465/2021