Employee Provident Fund Rate Hiked To 8.65% In Big Step For Aam Aadmi

Retirement fund body EPFO or Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has increased the interest rate on employees' provident fund (EPF) to 8.65 per cent for the current financial year (2018-19), news agency Press Trust of India quoted Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar as saying in a report. The increase in EPF interest rate - from 8.55 per cent in financial year 2017-18 - is expected to benefit six crore subscribers of the provident fund scheme. (Also Read: Want To Check Employee Provident Fund Balance Online: Here Are 3 Easy Steps)

All members of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the EPFO agreed to give a higher interest for subscribers for the current fiscal year, Mr Gangwar was quoted as saying by the agency. The proposal would go to the Ministry of Finance for approval, he said after meeting of Central Board of Trustees.

Headed by the labour minister, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) is the apex decision-making body of the EPFO, which finalises the interest rate applicable to provident fund (PF) deposits.

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Once the Central Board of Trustees approval is in place, the proposal is sent to the finance ministry. It is after the clearance of the Ministry of Finance that the interest as per the approved rate is credited into the subscribers' accounts.

For financial year 2017-18, the retirement fund body had kept the interest rate steady at 8.55 per cent - the lowest interest rate recorded in five years. It had provided interest at the rate of 8.8 per cent to the subscribers for financial year 2015-16.

Also Read: EPFO Revises Rules For Submission Of PF Withdrawal Claim

The interest rate stood at 8.75 per cent for financial years 2013-14 and 2014-15, and 8.5 per cent for 2012-13.

(With agency inputs)