Every month your salary slip features a deduction towards your Provident Fund (also known as Employees Provident Fund or EPF in short). How often have you wondered if such a contribution is actually beneficial to you and if it is actually needed? What if you quit or switch over jobs? Here's explaining the benefits EPF carries and why one should pay attention to this contribution.
Did you know that your EPF contribution also goes towards insuring you, giving you and your spouse a pension apart from giving you a lump sum amount after retirement?
Passive funds have resumed gaining ground in the mutual fund (MF) industry after a slowdown in 2024, with their share of assets under management (AUM) reaching an all-time high in 2025. The surge has been driven largely by robust inflows into gold and silver exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Retirement fund body EPFO has extended the deadline for filing EPF return or ECR (electronic challan-cum-return) by one week for the wage month of September till October 22, 2025. The employers are mandated to file the ECR by the 15th of every month.
Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) Chairman Tuhin Kanta Pandey on Thursday called for sharper disclosures in IPO (initial public offering) offer documents, particularly around risk factors, valuation rationale, objects of the issue, and utilisation of proceeds.
A 10-part series that explains all you want to know about how India's EPF turns a slice of your monthly salary into long-term savings, pension, and life insurance.
India's market regulator is moving ahead to include real estate investment trusts (Reits) in benchmark indices in a phased manner, Sebi chief Tuhin Kanta Pandey said, while asserting that the regulator was working to strengthen the link between infrastructure building and the markets.
A record amount of pension money may be finding its way into the stock market, if buying figures in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) data are any indication. Category inflows touched Rs 37,409 crore for the three months ending September 2025, shows an analysis of NSE data.
There has been demand to hike the PF interest rate to 8.90 per cent.
'They (government) are trying to create market for pension products'.
The 100 per cent withdrawal provision and the 25 per cent minimum balance provision have led to some confusion.
In a move aimed at curbing the mis-selling of financial products, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed banning incentives paid to bank staffers by third parties such as insurance companies and mutual fund houses for selling their products and services. It has also proposed that banks must ensure their user interfaces do not deploy "dark patterns" to lure customers.
The RBI advisory follows a labour ministry request earlier this year seeking the central bank's expertise to identify gaps in EPFO's investment strategy and fund management practices, including accounting, risk management, and internal governance.
India's economy is projected to grow between 6.3 per cent and 6.8 per cent in FY26, according to the Economic Survey 2024-25, tabled in Parliament on Friday. The survey highlights that the country's economic fundamentals remain strong, supported by a stable external account, fiscal consolidation, and private consumption. It noted that the government plans to strengthen long-term industrial growth by focusing on research and development (R&D), micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and capital goods.
Usually, in the western view, corporate success is attributed to efficiency, organisational structure, and scale. R Gopalakrishnan and Harish Bhat argue that philosophy, culture, and the transmission of values are more important for sustaining growth and profitability of an enterprise over a period of time.
From appointment letters becoming mandatory to gig workers receiving social security to enhanced rights for women and contract labour, the changes reflect India's attempt to balance ease of doing business with stronger worker welfare.
'It will increase the contribution to gratuity, which is something the employer has to give.'
The next generation GST reforms would 'absolutely' set an economy open and transparent with further reduction in compliance burden and benefiting small businesses, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) board has approved liberalised part withdrawals for subscribers, allowing up to 100 per cent EPF withdrawal, and rolled out the 'Vishwas Scheme' to reduce litigation through rationalised penal damages.
As per the circular, Aadhaar is also being removed from the list of documents for correction in date of birth.
The overall message to the middle class is: the days of freebies are over.
In a double-dose bid to boost growth and employment prospects, the Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved a Rs 2.07 trillion outlay for a research development and innovation (RDI) Scheme to fund private sector innovations, and an employment-linked incentive (ELI) to create over 35 million new jobs over the next two years.
Index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have added a record number of investment accounts in 2024, buoyed by the sectoral and thematic investing euphoria that has spilled into the passive space.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
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As of now, foreign employees applying for withdrawal of provident funds are required to open bank accounts in India.
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'Returning Indians can leverage their international skills and the strong funding environment for start-ups here.'
In 2019, out of the 1,440 minutes in a day, Indian youth spent 148 minutes on employment-related activities, which increased to 158 minutes in 2024.
When star mutual fund managers quit their jobs to start their own ventures, they have often begun their new innings by becoming portfolio management service (PMS) providers. Over the years there has been an influx of fund managers - they could earn big if they succeeded on their own - and alongside there are wealthy clients looking for an edge beyond that offered by traditional mutual funds.
At present, organised sector workers covered under social security schemes run by EPFO are exempted from contribution towards schemes.
The interplay between domestic and foreign capital will shape India's equity markets.
The law firms will provide legal opinion on matters related to interpretation of various statutes, such as the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, among other things.
Prospects of a bumper kharif harvest are expected to lower food inflation in the coming months, making the country's inflation outlook benign, the Union Ministry of Finance (FinMin) said in its monthly economic report for October released on Monday.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
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Fund managers will be given more flexibility to invest in corporate bonds.
Equity markets offer hugely better returns but since the risks are also real, a 'life-cycle' investment strategy offers a happy solution.\n\n
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