BREAKING: EPFO hikes interest rate on deposits to 8.25% from 8.15%

Retirement fund body EPFO has hiked the interest rate on employees' provident fund (EPF) deposits for 2023-24 to 8.25%, a three-year-high. It is a positive development for the over six crore subscribers of the EPFO

Employee Provident Fund (EPF) deposits for 2023–24 will now have a three-year high interest rate of 8.25 percent, according to a decision made by retirement fund authority EPFO on Saturday. The 8.25% interest rate for 2023-24 is a positive development for the over six crore subscribers of the EPFO. It is worth noting that the interest rate on EPF for 2020-21 was set at 8.5% by the CBT in March 2021.

At its meeting on Saturday, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the highest decision-making body of the EPFO, voted to offer an 8.25 percent interest rate on EPF for 2023–2024, according to a source cited by news agency PTI.

The interest rate on EPF deposits for 2023–2024 will be forwarded to the Ministry of Finance for approval following the CBT's decision. The interest rate on EPF for 2023–2024 would be credited into the accounts of more than six crore EPFO users following government certification.

In March 2023, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had increased the interest rate on EPF marginally to 8.15 per cent for 2022-23 from 8.10 per cent in 2021-22.

In March 2022, EPFO had lowered the interest on EPF for 2021-22 to an over four-decade low of 8.1 per cent for its over six crore subscribers, from 8.5 per cent in 2020-21. This was the lowest since 1977-78, when the EPF interest rate stood at 8 per cent.