'There is no question of diverting funds. This government is pro-poor, pro-worker and pro-progressive.'
The 48-odd million employees covered by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) may be touched that the finance ministry is actually considering a proposal to extend the organisation a fiscal helping hand to offer a rate of interest comparable with other savings instruments.
The 4.7 crore (47 million) EPFO subscribers were left guessing during the year on continuance of 9.5 per cent interest rate for this fiscal, with the retirement fund body, in an unprecedented development, deciding to refer it to the finance ministry for a final decision.
Once approved by the finance ministry, the rate hike will benefit six crore EPFO subscribers.
EFPO launched a number of new facilities this year.
EPFO manages a huge corpus of over Rs 6 lakh crore (Rs 6 trillion).
For the sixth year in a row, over 4.7 crore (47 million) subscribers of retirement fund manager EPFO are likely to get 8.5 per cent interest on their deposits in the current fiscal.
Retirement fund body EPFO paid lesser amount as interest on PF deposits of over five crore subscribers than its earnings between 2007-08 and 2010-11, government auditor CAG has said.
Experts say it's better to transfer the amount to one's current EPFO account than opting for a withdrawal.
The bill to amend payment of gratuity Act in order to double the ceiling of tax-free gratuity to Rs 20 lakh, would soon be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.
The facility for viewing PF accounts online was launched here by Labour Minister Sis Ram Ola in the presence of Minister of State for Labour and Employment Kodikunnil Suresh and EPFO's Central Provident Fund Commissioner K K Jalan.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's apex decision making body, the Central Board of Trustees, had decided to provide 8.65 per cent rate of interest on EPF deposits last December.
The decision will benefit over nine crore such account holders having total deposit of around Rs 32,000 crore.
At present, the EPF subscribers are exempted from paying income tax on deposits.
Labour Ministry has notified new investment pattern for EPFO.
As per the EPFO income projections, retaining 8.8 per cent rate of interest for the current fiscal would have left a deficit of Rs 383 crore. Hence, it was lowered to 8.65 per cent
The deduction will be higher and net take-home pay will fall.
Employees Provident Fund Organisation is likely to issue permanent account numbers to employees.
EPF allows partial withdrawal to meet situations like house construction, medical emergency, and so on.
The Employees Provident Fund Organisation's apex decision making body, the Central Board of Trustee on February 25 had decided to pay 8.5 per cent rate of interest to subscribers for 2012-13.
The members of these trusts enjoy tax and other benefits at par with EPFO subscribers.
The government has approved payment of 8.75 per cent rate of interest on PF deposits in 2013-14 for over five crore subscribers of retirement fund body EPFO.
rediffGURU Mahesh Padmanabhan answers readers' personal income tax queries.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Friday decided to give 8.5 per cent interest on provident fund deposits of 4.5 crore (45 million) subscribers.
The finance ministry appears to have ruled out subsidising Employees Provident Fund Organisation, despite the labour ministry struggling to bridge the Rs 927 crore (Rs 9.27 billion) deficit to pay 9.5 per cent interest to about Rs 4 crore (40 million
The objective behind the move is to "retain the membership of PF subscribers and to address the social security needs at the time of unemployment."
The EPFO Board will for the third time meet in New Delhi on Tuesday to decide on the interest to be offered to its three crore subscribers this year, even as trade unions' demand higher returns.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is crunching its numbers under pressure for sustaining a 9.5 per cent interest rate in the current financial year.
Subscribers of retirement fund manager EPFO, settling their final claims before the new rate is announced for the current fiscal, will get the existing 9.5 per cent interest on their deposits.
'The government should come back as a job creator as it did in the 1960s and the 1970s.'
Over five crore provident fund subscribers governed by the EPFO will get 8.75 per cent interest on their deposits for the current fiscal.
With 7 per cent economic growth, India is not creating enough jobs as reflected by the number of applicants for vacant posts in some states, Reserve Bank's former governor Raghuram Rajan said and suggested the government needs to focus on promoting labour-intensive industries to generate employment. Rajan further said some Indians, especially those at upper level, are comfortable and have high incomes, but consumption growth from the lower half of the country has still not recovered to pre-pandemic level.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation can comfortably offer 8.5 per cent interest rate to its 4.41 crore (44.1 million) depositors during 2009-10 and still record a surplus contrary to Rs 139-crore (Rs 1.39 billion) losses suffered by it for giving the same benefit during the current fiscal.
The Union finance ministry has rejected a proposal sent by the labour ministry to double the monthly minimum pension amount to Rs 2,000 under the Employee Pension Scheme (EPS). The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the apex decision-making body of the Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), was apprised of the proposal's rejection during a meeting on Saturday. "According to the recommendations made by a highly-empowered monitoring committee constituted by the government, a proposal to increase the minimum pension under EPS from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 per month, by providing additional budgetary support, was sent to the ministry of finance.
rediffGURU and financial planning expert Colonel Sanjeev Govila (retd) will answer your personal finance-related questions.
The Employees Provident Fund Organisation is pressing State Bank of India, one of the four retirement fund managers, to comply with a clause that provides for a penalty for keeping money idle for over a day.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
