The Ministry of Labour and Employment has informed the EPFO that the Central government has given its approval for the EPF interest rate to be credited into members’ accounts, according to a circular released today
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On Monday, the government granted approval for the interest rate of 8.15 per cent, as recommended by the Central Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), for its more than 6 crore subscribers during the financial year 2022-23. A circular issued by the EPFO today confirmed that the Ministry of Labour and Employment conveyed the central government’s approval to credit the EPF interest rate into members’ accounts.
Following the conventional process, the Ministry of Labour and Employment forwarded the interest rate recommendation to the Ministry of Finance for ratification. With the government’s consent, the EPFO will now proceed to credit the interest rate for the previous fiscal year to the EPF subscribers’ accounts.
The EPFO circular stated, “The Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, has conveyed the approval of the Central Government under para 60(1) of Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme, 1952, to credit interest @ 8.15% for the year 2022-23 to the account of each member of the EPF Scheme as per the provisions under Para 60 of EPF Scheme, 1952.”
Notably, this approval for the EPF interest rate is one of the fastest provided by the Finance Ministry. In the previous year, the interest rate approval was granted on June 3. However, the crucial aspect lies in the time gap between the approval and the actual crediting of the interest to member accounts. Last year, several EPF subscribers expressed dissatisfaction due to a delay in receiving the interest rate, despite the early nod in June. The Finance Ministry attributed the delay to a software upgrade for the tax changes implemented in the previous year, clarifying that there was no loss of interest rate for EPFO subscribers.
In March of this year, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the EPFO recommended an interest rate of 8.15 per cent for its over 6 crore subscribers for the current financial year 2022-23, slightly higher than the 8.1 per cent rate in the previous year. After disbursing the 8.15 per cent interest, the retirement fund body will retain a surplus of Rs 663.91 crore, according to a statement released by the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
Despite registering a deficit of around Rs 197 crore in the fiscal year 2021-22 against an estimated surplus of Rs 350-400 crore, the interest rate was increased to 8.1 per cent for that year, which was the lowest rate in four decades. The deficit was primarily attributed to several exempted establishments approaching the EPFO to surrender their exempt status, with a total of 83 cases received and five cases considered by the CBT.