Will you earn more interest on your PF deposit? EPFO board to decide tomorrow

The retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation is expected to reveal the rate of interest on employees’ provident fund (EPF) deposits for 2022-23 at its two-day meet on March 27 and 28, news agency PTI reported.

The EPFO reduced the interest rate on EPF for 2021-22 to 8.1 percent for its approximately 5 million subscribers, down from 8.5 percent in 2020-21 in March 2022, which was the lowest since 1977-78.

“The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO’s) apex decision making body Central Board of Trustees (CBT) is likely to decide the rate of interest on EPF for 2022-23 at its two-day meeting beginning on Monday afternoon,” PTI quoted source as saying.

Apart from the interest rate, the Central Board of Trustees(CBT) is likely to have a discussion on the annual accounts of the EPFO for 2022-23.

The trustees will also discuss the EPFO's response to the Supreme Court's order to give Workers' Pension Scheme 1995 subscribers a four-month window to choose for a higher pension.

The EPFO has already provided its subscribers with the choice of opting for a higher pension until May 3, 2023.

The EPFO had set the interest rate of 8.1 per cent for 2021-22, which was the lowest in four decades and was significantly lower than the 8.5 per cent credited in the preceding year.

The CBT decision on the interest rate on EPF deposits for 2022-23 will then go to the Ministry of Finance for concurrence.

EPFO provides the rate of interest only after it is ratified by the government through the finance ministry.

Last week, retirement fund body EPFO came out with a procedure to enable subscribers and their employers to jointly apply for higher pension under Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS).

In November 2022, the Supreme Court had upheld Employees' Pension (Amendment) Scheme 2014. The EPS amendment of August 22, 2014 had raised the pensionable salary cap to Rs 15,000 a month from Rs 6,500 a month, and allowed members along with their employers to contribute 8.33 per cent of their actual salaries (if it exceeded the cap) towards EPS.

In an office order, EPFO had provided for dealing with the "Joint Option Form" by field offices of the body. EPFO stated that "a facility will be provided for which URL (unique resource location) will be informed shortly. Once received, the regional PF commissioner shall put adequate notice on the notice board and banners for wider public information".

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