EPF subscribers may get lower interest rates, govt to decide on November 23

Key Highlights

• The next trustees meet is expected to be held on November 23.
• Speculated cut in interest rates of near 8.5% on the meeting agenda.
• Discussion on unitisation of EPFO's investments in equities will also be discussed.

Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will push for new interest rates on provident fund deposits on November 23 at its trustee meeting. However the interest rates to subscribers may be revised lower.

At the meet headed by Union Labour Minister, Santosh Kumar Gangwar and attended by the EPFO and the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) may cut interest rates by 8.5% for FY18 however keeping returns the same or higher, a report by Economic Times said on Friday.

Unitisation of EPFO’s investments in equities will also be on the agenda for the meet. The purpose of this is to credit each subscriber’s share into provident fund accounts like mutual fund units.

Last month the retirement fund body was speculated to a proposal to credit subscribers' share of its ETF investments to their provident fund accounts which can be redeemed at the time of withdrawal, Gangwar said in an interview.

The EPFO will invest 15% of its corpus in equities through exchange traded funds (ETFs).

PF subscribers can now also download the Umang App and opt for claims electronically, Minister of Law and Justice, Information Technology, Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a tweet.

Subscribers can also review passbooks, claim pension withdrawals and opt for final settlements.