EPFO will Pay 8.5% Interest on PF Deposits for Fiscal Year 2012-13

                                  Employees’ Provident Fund Organization, better known as EPFO, which is a retirement fund management body, has decided that it will pay 8.5 percent interest on PF deposits for the current fiscal year of 2012-13. Eventually EPFO has an enormous subscribers list of over five crore.

                                  The interest rate for current fiscal is higher than 8.25 per cent, which it provided to all its subscribers in the previous fiscal year of 2011-12. It will bring smile to the faces of all the employees, who are registered under the EPFO.

                                                     The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), which the highest decision making body of the Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), had arranged an important meeting with its board of directors. In that meeting the decision on the interest rate for the current fiscal was taken. The said meeting was chaired by the honorable Labour Minister of India Mr. Mallikarjun Kharge.

                                                    After the meeting of The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the secretary of the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), Mr. D L Sachdev said, “A decision has been taken to pay 8.5 per cent interest on PF deposits. But we have expressed our reservations as we wanted higher interest rate."

                                                     You can read here that in October 2012, EPFO approved Reliance-Nippon Stake Deal to manage the fund more usefully. If we consider the present scenario, then we must say that the move was quite good in deed.

                                                     Earlier this month EPFO had prepared a note for consideration of the February 15 meeting of the Finance and Investment Committee (FIC). In that note it had said that the interest rate of 8.5% of the current fiscal year was feasible.

                                                      The retirement fund management body has also made an estimate about this matter. By its estimation payment of 8.5 percent interest rate on PF deposits for current fiscal would result in a surplus of Rs 4.13 crore while 8.6 percent interest rate on same would leave a deficit of Rs 240.49 crore, which it can’t afford as of now.

                                                       On February 15, at the meeting of the FIC, the union leaders denied to have a discussion on the issue regarding payment of interest in the current fiscal, as the note of agenda was not submitted to them in advance. Some sources said that the said note was tabled during the FIC meeting only.

                                                       The sources added that the estimation, which has been prepared by the EPFO, would now be directly provided before The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) for its final approval. The union government has issued the notification on interest rate after checking it with the Finance Ministry of India.

                                                   Generally the interest rate of the running fiscal has been announced by the EPFO in the beginning of every year, but for this year the scenario was different. There has been a clear shot delay this time. Various powerful Trade Unions have been putting pressure on the EPFO for an early meeting the CBT to decide on the interest rate for the current fiscal year of 2012-13.

                                                    You can check your current EPFO balance anytime from Here.

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