In a major relief for salaried employees across India, the government has credited the annual 8.25% interest for the financial year 2024-25 into 96.51% of Employee Provident Fund (EPF) accounts ahead of schedule. Unlike previous years, when the deposits trickled in between August and December, this year the crediting process began as early as June.
According to Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will complete the remaining credits by the end of this week, benefiting crores of workers nationwide. That means, if you're a working professional with a PF account, your latest interest installment may have already been credited or will be soon.
"This year, the annual account updation had to be done for 13.88 lakh establishments having 33.56 crore member accounts, out of which till 8th July, interest has been credited in 32.39 crore member accounts of 13.86 lakh establishments."
"This translates into completion of annual accounts updation for 99.9 per cent of the establishments and 96.51 per cent of the Member Accounts," the minister said while talking to reporters.
For the current year (2024-25), the approval of the central government for crediting of interest at the rate of 8.25 per cent on EPF accumulations came on May 22, 2025.
Accordingly, preparatory activities were immediately undertaken, and annual accounts updation commenced from the night of June 6, 2025, he stated.
The minister noted that in 2023-24, the process of crediting the interest to members' accounts commenced in August and was completed in December.
The process has now been optimised for faster processing, due to which the entire exercise has mostly been completed in June itself, he pointed out.
It is expected that the annual accounts in respect of such remaining establishments will also be completed within this week, he stated.
EPFO, on February 28, had decided to retain the interest rate of 8.25 per cent on employees' provident fund (EPF) deposits for the financial year 2024-25, equal to the rate provided in the preceding fiscal. The approved rate of interest for 2024-25 was sent for the concurrence of the Ministry of Finance.
The decision on interest rate was taken at the 237th meeting of the Central Board of Trustees of the EPFO, chaired by Mandaviya in New Delhi on February 28.
Compared to many fixed-income instruments, EPF offers relatively higher and stable returns, ensuring steady growth on post-retirement savings.
In February 2024, the EPFO increased the interest rate marginally to 8.25 per cent for 2023-24, from 8.15 per cent in 2022-23.
In March 2022, EPFO had lowered the interest on EPF for 2021-22 to an over four-decade low of 8.1 per cent from 8.5 per cent in 2020-21.
The 8.10 per cent rate of interest on EPF for 2020-21 was the lowest since 1977-78, when it stood at 8 per cent.
(With inputs from PTI)
