1. The petitioner Mr. L.D. Joshi, who had joined respondent no. 6 i.e. M/s. BOSCH Limited at Hosur Road, Adugodi, Bangalore - 560030 formerly known as Motor Industries Company Limited (MICO) as Commercial Officer, was allotted employees EPF account no. KN/120/10857F and EPF contributions were made w.e.f. 01.09.1984. The petitioner was transferred to the company?s Delhi office i.e. M/s. BOSCH Limited at 85-A, Rashyamook, Panchkuin Road, New Delhi (arrayed as respondent no. 5) w.e.f. 01.04.1988 and a new EPF account number was opened with respondent no. 2, (RPFC Delhi North). Vide application dated 14.02.2008 (which date the respondents no.1-3 claim to be 01.05.2008), the petitioner applied for transfer of his EPF accumulations from the office of the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, EPFO, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road, Bangalore-560025 (arrayed as respondent no. 3) to the Office of the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Bhavishyanidhi Bhawan, 28, Community Centre, Wazirpur, Industrial Area, Dellhi – 110052 (arrayed as respondent no.2) and an acknowledgement in relation thereto was issued by the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Bhavishyanidhdi Bhawan, 28, Community Centre, Wazirpur Industrial Area, Delhi-110052 (arrayed as respondent no. 2). It is submitted by the petitioner that despite reminders made by him by several personal visits to the office of the respondent no. 2, the transfer of his EPF account was not effected till June, 2008 and the petitioner was advised to get the transfer done by personally visiting the office of the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, EPFO, Raja Ram Mohan Roy Road, Bangalore-560025 (arrayed as respondent no. 3) whereafter, the petitioner personally visited Bangalore in June, 2008 to ascertain the fate of his application seeking transfer of the account no. KN/120/10857F but it was informed that there was no information received from the petitioner?s former employer i.e. respondent no. 6 and he was assured that the transfer would be effected within a month. No transfer of the EPF account took place even thereafter and in March, 2011, the respondent no. 1 i.e. Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Employees? Provident Fund Organization, Bhavishyanidhi Bhawan, 14, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi – 110066 i.e. the Apex Authority under the EPF scheme published a notice captioned “Important Message for Employees? Provident Fund Members” in the leading newspaper.

2. The message reads thus:

“In case no contribution has been made in the Provident Fund account continuously for 36 months, it will be identified as inoperative and interest would not be credited on such account after 36 months. This will come into effect from 01.04.2011.”

Pursuant to the said notification, the petitioner tried to get the transfer of his EPF account no. KN/120/10857F effected, in order to avoid the loss of interest w.e.f. 01.04.2011 and the petitioner again visited Bangalore in June, 2011 to inquire from the respondent no. 3 about the transfer of his account to which he was informed that the necessary verification in Forms 5 & 10 from the petitioner?s former employer in Bangalore had not been received and the petitioner was advised to personally get them forwarded by his former employer, whereupon the petitioner states that he immediately rushed to the Head Office of his former employer at Bangalore and got the Forms 5 & 10 issued by the employer and delivered the same to the Assistant RPFC, who issued an acknowledgement dated 22.06.2011.

The EPF account of the petitioner was not transferred to Delhi till September, 2011. In the meanwhile, the petitioner left the services of M/s. BOSCH Limited (arrayed as respondent nos. 5 & 6) towards the end of December, 1989 and the last contribution made to the Delhi account was in January, 1990 and thereafter, there was no contribution to the EPF account made neither at the Bangalore office nor at the Delhi office but both the accounts were earning interest and the petitioner th