New Delhi: Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) is a savings instrument that helps salaried employees to save for their future. The scheme helps employees build their retirement corpus by putting in a small amount of money every month. Both employee and the employer contribute to the worker’s account.


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However, for quite some time now, subscribers have not got the interest money of their PF credited into their account. Responding to a tweet by T.V Mohandas Pai, former CFO and Ex-director of Infosys, the Finance Ministry has said that the delay in interest payment does not mean loss of money.


"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," tweeted the Finance Ministry. 


It further added, "For all outgoing subscribers seeking settlement and for subscribers seeking withdrawal, the payments are being done inclusive of the interest."
 



In June this year, the Finance Ministry, gave its nod to the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) proposal to rationalise the interest rate on EPF investments to 8.1% in 2021-2022 from 8.5% earlier. With the Centre’s approval, the EPF interest rate now stands at the lowest in 40 years.  The last time, the interest rate was lower than 8.1% was in 1977-78, when it stood at 8%. However, at a time when the inflation rate remains on the higher side, lower returns on EPF investments could wary investors.