The government of India has increased the PF interest rate to 8.8 per cent for the ongoing financial year ended March 2016 from 8.75 per cent earlier. EPFO has been paying 8.75 per cent interest rate for the last two fiscals to its 5 crore organised sector subscribers. A final decision on the hike in PF rates was taken at a meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) in Chennai. The CBT includes representatives from the government, employers and employees.

EPFO provides the rate of interest from its earnings on investment on formal sector workers’ fund without any assistance from the government. The income projection of the retirement fund body is upwards of Rs 34,844 crore for the current fiscal. At this, EPFO would not have any problem to raise the rates to even 9% considering that it would still have Rs 100-odd crore surplus.

Did You Know???

• The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (abbreviated to EPFO), is a statutory body of the Government of India under the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
• It is one of the largest social security organisations in India in terms of the number of covered beneficiaries and the volume of financial transactions undertaken.
• The total assets under management are more than ₹5 lakh crore (US$91 billion).
• The organisation is administered by a Central Board of Trustees, composed of representatives of the Government of India, provincial governments, employers and employees.