EPF Rate Hike: This week is very special for about 7 crore account holders of the Employees Provident Fund Organization running the Social Security Scheme. The Central Board of Trustees of EPFO can be held on 28 February 2025 i.e. on Friday this week, in which the FY 2024-25 can be decided on the Employees Provident Fund i.e. EPF interest rates for the financial year 2024-25. In FY 2023-24, 8.25 percent interest was given on EPF.
The Central Board of Trustees will meet under the chairmanship of Labor and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandavia. And in this meeting, a decision will be taken regarding the interest rate on EPF for the current financial year. After approval from CBT, the proposal will be sent to the Finance Ministry for approval. EPF account holders for FY 2023-24 were paid 8.25 per cent, 8.15 per cent in 2022-23 and 8.10 per cent in 2021-22. It is expected that in the current financial year, EPFOs can be given 8.25 percent interest to EPFO account holders this year due to the excellent returns on their investment.
The EPFO scheme is considered the biggest social security scheme for those working in the private sector. Every month a certain part in the name of PF is deducted from the salary of private sector employees and the employer contributes to PF. Employees can withdraw PF money in terms of job missing, home building or buying, marriage, education of children or retirement.
There is also a possibility that the Central Board of Trustees’ meeting may also discuss the creation of interest stabilization reserve fund to give EPFO account holders returns on their investment. The objective of making this fund is to provide a stable return to 7 crore EPFO account holders on their provident funds. Due to this, the account holders will also get a fixed return in the era of fluctuations in interest rates or the EPFO getting low returns on their investment. If this scheme is approved by EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees, it can be implemented from 2026-27. The Central Board of Trustees consists of representatives of the Minister of Labor and Employment as well as trade unions.
