‘Delay in crediting EPF interest due to software fix; no loss to subscriber’

The Finance Ministry on Wednesday clarified that there is no loss of interest rate for subscribers of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and the delay in crediting of interest rate for FY22 is due to software upgrade being done due to the tax tweaks introduced last year.

“There is no loss of interest for any subscriber. The interest is being credited in the accounts of all EPF subscribers. However, that is not visible in the statements in view of a software upgrade being implemented by EPFO to account for change in the tax incidence,” the Finance Ministry said in a late night tweet in response to TV Mohandas Pai on Twitter.

“For all outgoing subscribers seeking settlement and for subscribers seeking withdrawal, the payments are being done inclusive of the interest,” it added.

In June, the Centre had cleared interest rate of 8.10 per cent for over 6 crore subscribers of the EPFO for FY22. The rate was earlier recommended by the Central Board of Trustees in March, after which it was then ratified by the ministry. FY22 is the first fiscal when the Centre’s proposal to tax interest on higher contributions to the EPF will come into effect.