New Delhi, May 19 -- Administered by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) under the EPF Act of 1952, EPF is a retirement savings scheme available to salaried citizens.

You may have multiple EPF accounts if you have changed employers and the new employer created a new one for you, or if you missed alerting your new employer for a transfer of existing account. Notably, the accounts do not merge automatically, and you will need to request the EPFO for an online transfer of balance to the active PF account.

There is no penalty for multiple EPF accounts as it is a common issue, and it is not mandatory to merge your accounts. However, this will have to be done at time of closure of account (when you retire and want to withdraw th...