Diwali gift! Govt approves 8.5% interest rate on EPF for 2020-21, to be credited soon

The government has approved 8.5 per cent rate of interest on employees’ provident fund for the 2020-21 fiscal, a report said.

In what can be considered as a Diwali gift for over five crore subscribers of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), the government has reportedly approved 8.5 per cent rate of interest on employees’ provident funds for the 2020-21 fiscal.

According to a zeebiz.com report, the Finance Ministry gave green signal for 8.5% rate of interest of provident fund deposit for 2020-21 paving way for EPFO to credit the interest soon.

It is to be noted here that the EPFO’s apex decision-making body Central Board of Trustees (CBT) headed by Labour Minister had decided the 8.5% of interest on provident fund deposits for the financial year of 2020-21 in March this year.

The EPF interest rate for FY 2018-19 was 8.65 per cent. However, the EPFO reduced it in March 2020 to 8.5 per cent for FY 2019-20 due to Covid outbreak in 2020. This 7 years’ low of EPF interest rate was kept unchanged for 2020-21 financial year.

It is expected that EPFO is likely to credit the interest on employees’ provident fund for the 2020-21 fiscal ahead of the Diwali festival.

Following are the four ways to check your EPF balance/ know how to check EPF balance

1. Check balance through Umang App: You must first install this app on your mobile. After this, you have to enter your registered phone number which you have registered. Now go to the menu in the top left corner and go to the ‘Service Directory’. Search and click on EPFO ​​option here. After going to the View Passbook here, check the balance through your UAN number and OTP.
2. Through EPFO ​​portal: Employees can also check their account balance through EPFO ​​portal. For this, you have to log in to the website. Apart from this, click on epfindia.gov.in for e-passbook. A new page will open after this. Here you have to fill your username (UAN number), password, and captcha. After this, a new page will open where all the details will come. Now here you have to select the member id. Your balance will come in its bar.
3. Check your balance through miss-call: For this, miss-call the registered mobile number on 011-22901406. It is also important to have your UAN, PAN, and Aadhaar link here. After making a call to this number, your balance will come.
4. Check balance through SMS: For this, it is necessary that your UAN number is registered with EPFO. You need to send ‘EPFOHO UAN ENG’ to 7738299899. This service supports 10 different languages ​​including English, Hindi, Punjabi.