New Delhi, September 24: Narendra Modi-led Union government on Tuesday raised the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) rate from 8.65 percent from 8.55 percent for 2018-19. This latest development came days ahead of the second quarter's closing in September and was notified by the Labour Ministry. According to the plan of the government, the latest change in EPF rates would enable crediting the interest amount of Rs 54,000 crore into accounts of over six crore subscribers. Apart from this, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) would be enabled to settle on withdrawal claims on this rate ahead of the festive season.

Looking at the statistics and the past data, the latest hike is ten basis points higher than that for 2017-18. Though there was some disagreement on the issue of hike in percentage of EPF by the government, Union Labour Minister Santosh Gangwar stated that his ministry made this announcement after it received a recommendation from the Union Finance Ministry. Income Tax Rate Reduction Recommended by Task Force in Report to Nirmala Sitharaman, Here's What the New Slab will Look Like if Modi Government Agrees.

It is to be known that the demand for a raise in the EPF percentage was pending since last three years, until the Department of Financial Services (DFS) -- a wing of the finance ministry -- gave concurrence to the EPFO’s decision to provide 8.65 per cent rate of interest for 2018-19, reports the Business Line.

According to an estimate by EPFO, a surplus of Rs 151.67 crore would be added after the hike for 2018-19 on EPF. Earlier, EPFO had provided a five-year-low interest rate to its subscribers at 8.55 percent for 2017-18.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 24, 2019 06:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).