EPFO Hikes Interest Rate on Provident Fund Deposits For FY19 Ahead of Lok Sabha Election

New Delhi: Retirement fund body EPFO has decided to provide 8.65 per cent interest on PF deposits for 2018-19 against 8.55 per cent in the last year to its 6 crore subscribers, Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar said on Thursday.

Highly placed sources had earlier indicated that the interest on EPF deposits for this fiscal could be more than 8.55 per cent in view of impending general elections. The move is in line with several populist announcements by the Modi government, including the Budget announcement of income tax relief for the salaried class.

EPFO Hikes Interest Rate on Provident Fund Deposits For FY19 Ahead of Lok Sabha Election
EPFO Hikes Interest Rate on Provident Fund Deposits For FY19 Ahead of Lok Sabha Election

All members of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of EPFO at a meeting on Thursday agreed to give a higher interest for subscribers for the current fiscal, the minister said. The proposal would now go to the Finance Ministry for approval, Gangwar said after the CBT meeting.

The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) headed by Labour Minister is the apex decision making body of the EPFO which finalises rate of interest on PF deposits for a financial year.

Once approved by the CBT, the proposal requires the concurrence of the Finance Ministry. The interest rate is credited into the subscribers account after the Finance Ministry’s approval.

The EPFO had provided a five-year low rate of interest of 8.55 per cent to its subscribers for 2017-18. The body had kept the interest rate at 8.65 per cent in 2016-17 and 8.8 per cent in 2015-16. It provided 8.75 per cent interest for 2013-14 as well as 2014-15. The rate of interest was 8.5 per cent in 2012-13.

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