Central government may hike EPFO wage ceiling soon

The Centre may soon revise the wage ceiling for the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) flagship retirement saving scheme. As of now, the wage limit of the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) scheme is Rs 15,000 per month or Rs 180,000 a year.

Employees’ Provident Fund or EPF is social security scheme managed by the government that promotes savings for professionals in the service sector. The scheme is valid for firms and companies with 20 or more workers. Under this, the employee has to pay a certain amount of money towards the scheme. The same amount is paid by the employer. The interest is paid on both employee’s and the employer’s contribution. A hike in the EPFO wage limit would increase the contribution of both and help workers for their retirement.

The EPFO wage ceiling was last revised in 2014 when the government hiked the amount from Rs 6,500 per month to Rs 15,000 monthly.

As per news reports, the Centre is planning to set up an expert committee in this regard, which after taking stock of the inflation situation and other prevailing factors, will make the changes.

As per the latest government data, the formalisation of workforce under the EPFO jumped by 9.1 per cent in September to 1.68 million compared to 1.54 million added in September last year. The net enrolment during the month is 21.85 per cent higher than the monthly average recorded during the last fiscal.