New Delhi: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) on Saturday decided to reduce the interest rate on provident fund (EPF) deposits to 8.1 percent for the financial year 2021-22. This is the lowest interest rate in more than four decades, given this rate of 8.5 percent in 2020-21. Earlier, the interest rate on EPF was the lowest at 8 percent in 1977-78.
EPFO has about five crore members in the country. “The apex decision-making body of the EPFO, the Central Board of Trustees, met on Saturday in which it was decided to keep the interest rate on EPF at 8.1 percent for 2021-22,” a source said. The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) took the decision in March 2021 to keep the interest rate on EPF deposits at 8.5 for 2020-21. It was approved by the Finance Ministry in October 2021.
Now after the recent decision of CBT, the interest rate information on EPF deposits for 2021-22 will be sent to the Finance Ministry for approval. In March 2020, the EPFO had decided to reduce the interest rate on provident fund deposits to 8.5 percent in seven years for 2019-20 from 8.65 percent in 2018-19.
