Centre approves 8.15% interest rate under EPF Scheme

The Union Labour and Employment Ministry has approved 8.15% credit interest rate under the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme for 2023-24. The approved interest rate for FY23 is higher than 8.1% fixed for FY22.

"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 Sche, 1952," says the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest order.

Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav-led Central Board of Trustees of the EPFO on March 28, 2023, had recommended an 8.15% interest rate for the financial year 2022-23, following which the decision was approved and notified by the finance ministry. For FY23, the total expected income under the scheme is expected to be ₹90,497.57 crore.

The EPFO is one of the world’s largest organisations in terms of clientele and the volume of financial transactions undertaken by it. The board is assisted by the Employees’ PF Organisation (EPFO), consisting of offices at 122 locations across the country. 

The EPFO’s latest provisional payroll data released on July 20, 2023, highlights that EPFO has added 16.30 lakh net members in May 2023. The data reveals that 3,673 establishments extended social security coverage of EPFO to their employees by remitting their first ECR during the month.

The data shows around 8.83 lakh new members enrolled during May 2023 are highest during the last six months. Among the newly joined members, the age group of 18-25 years constitutes 56.42% of the total new members added. This indicates an increasing trend in youth employment, who are mostly first-time job seekers joining organised sector workforce.  

Around 11.41 lakh members exited but rejoined EPFO who may have switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, extending their social security protection. 

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data shows that out of a total 8.83 lakh new members added during the month, around 2.21 lakh are new female members, joining EPFO for the first time. Also, the net female member addition stood at around 3.15 lakh.

State-wise, in terms of net member addition, the top 5 states are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, and Gujarat. These constitute around 57.85% of net member addition, adding a total of 9.43 lakh members during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 19.32% of net members during the month.