Over 4.7 crore employees will get 9.5 per cent interest on provident fund deposits for the year 2010-11.
The Finance Ministry on Thursday ratified the hike in provident fund deposits for 2010-11 by 1 per cent to 9.5 per cent. A proposal for the hike was sent by the Labour Ministry in February.
The EPFO had been paying 8.5 per cent interest on PF deposits since 2005-06.
EPFO claims that it will dip into the Rs. 1700 crore of unclaimed deposits lying with it to pay the higher return.
The EPFO's apex decision making body – The Central Board of Trustees – had earlier decided on a 9.5 per cent rate of return on retirement savings in 2010-11 after it found a surplus of Rs. 1,731 crore.
For the financial year 2010-2011, 9.5% rate of interest on EPF has been recommended by the Central Board of Trustees, Employees’ Provident Fund [CBT(EPF)] in the 190th meeting held on 15.09.2010 based on the funds available in the interest suspense account. The Ministry of Labour & Employment has forwarded the recommendation of CBT to the Ministry of Finance (Department of Financial Services) for approval.
This information was given by Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister for Labour And Employment in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha today.
Despite the popularity of the EPF as a saving tool, not many people are enthused by or even aware of the Employees’ Pension Scheme. Introduced in 1995, it is funded by diverting 8.3%, or a little more than a third of your PF contribution. The pension on retirement is linked to the number of years in service and the average salary drawn in the year before retirement.
"Provided further that an account opened on behalf of a Hindu Undivided Family prior to the 13th day of May, 2005, shall be closed after expiry of fifteen years from the end of the year in which the initial subscription was made and the entire amount standing at the credit of the subscriber shall be refunded, after making adjustments, if any, in respect of any interest due from the subscriber on loans taken by him. In the case of accounts opened on behalf of Hindu Undivided Family, where fifteen years from end of the year in which initial subscription was made, has already been completed, they shall also be closed at the end of the current year, i.e. the 31st day of March, 2011 and the entire amount standing at the credit of the subscriber shall be refunded, after making adjustments, if any, in respect of any interest due from the subscriber on loans taken by him."
In the said Rules, in rule 15-B, in the provisos to sub-rule (1), for the expression “Rs.2,50,000/-”, the expression “Rs.6,00,000/-” shall be substituted.
12th July, 2010, Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) started a value added service for its subscribers. Intimation to subscribers regarding settlement of claims will be sent to any subscriber who has submitted his mobile number while submitting his claim.
The service provider for this is BSNL. EPFO offices located across the country will pump their claim settlement data to the FTP server placed at National Data Center at New Delhi on a daily basis. BSNL will collect, and consolidate it for scheduling bulk SMS to all members every day.
Withdrawals from GPF
Withdrawals of PF amount for the following purposes:
1.Education
2.Purchasing Consumer Durables
3.Illness
4.Obligatory Expenses
5.Purchasing a house site
6.Constructing
7.Reconstructing
8.Housing
9.Renovating ancestral house
10.Repayment of outstanding housing loan
11.Extensive repairs /...
Overview - General Provident Fund
1.Applicability — The GPF Rules are applicable to those Central Government employees who have been appointed on or before 31-12-2003.
2.Eligibility—...
