PF Board recommends retaining interest rate at 8.25%

A meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) held on Monday (March 2, 2026) has recommended that the Union Government retain the interest rate of PF deposits at 8.25%.

The meeting also approved a number of reform measures of the pension fund such as a pilot project for auto-initiation of claim settlement in inoperative accounts, an amnesty scheme for exempted establishments, approval of new Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Employees Pension Scheme (EPS) and Employees’ Deposit-Linked Insurance (EDLI) in tune with the Code on Social Security and a new simplified standard operating procedure on EPF exemption.

A government release said the CBT meeting, chaired by Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, took the decision to retain the interest rate for 2025-26 after considering various factors, including global uncertainties. “Despite global uncertainties, EPFO has maintained strong financial discipline, ensuring stable and competitive returns without straining the interest account. The decision benefits crores of workers by strengthening their retirement security, while reaffirming EPFO’s commitment to safeguarding contributions and delivering prudent, sustainable, and attractive returns compared to other similar investment avenues,” the release added.

The one-time amnesty scheme seeks to bring establishments and trusts into compliance within a defined six-month period, primarily to protect workers’ interests, while waiving damages, interest and penalties for those that have already provided benefits equal to or better than the statutory scheme.

“It allows retrospective relaxation or exemption subject to specified conditions and ensures that all eligible employees receive statutory benefits,” the government added.

The CBT also approved the new simplified SOP on EPF exemption, making the audit of exempted establishments more transparent and efficient. “A unified framework will promote ease of doing business, ensure transparency with paperless work, faster processing of surrender/cancellation of exemption cases and incentivise compliant behaviour through risk-based online audit,” the government said.

The CBT also approved the notification of new social security schemes under the Code on Social Security, and the newly approved EPF, EPS and EDLI schemes will replace the current schemes.

The total contributions of the EPFO amounted to ₹3,35,628.81 crore, with 2,86,894 new establishments brought under coverage and 1,22,89,244 new members enrolled, the meeting was told. Audited Annual Accounts of EPFO in respect of EPF Scheme, 1952, EPS 1995 and EDLI Scheme 1976 for 2023-24 were also approved by the CBT. The Board also approved the Revised Estimates for 2025-26 and Budget Estimates for 2026-27 for EPFO and schemes.