New Delhi: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Saturday raised the interest rate on provident fund deposit to 8.25% for 2023-24.
The retirement fund body fixed the rate at a three-year high, for more than 29 crore subscribers, of which approximately 6.8 crore are actively contributing.
Ahead of the upcoming general elections, expected to take place in April-May this year, the decision to increase the EPF interest rate was made during the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation meeting held on Saturday.
This marks the highest interest rate for EPF subscribers in the past three years. The previous highest EPF interest rate was 8.5% in 2019-20, which remained unchanged in 2020-21.
In 2021-22, the CBT reduced the interest rate to 8.1%, marking the lowest rate in four decades. It was subsequently increased marginally to 8.15%t in 2022-23.
Following convention, the Ministry of Labour and Employment will forward the interest rate recommendation to the Ministry of Finance for approval. Once the ministry approves the interest rate, the EPFO will proceed to credit the interest rate for the previous fiscal year to the EPF subscribers.
