EPFO starts depositing interest in PF accounts; Steps to check your balance

Last month on 31st October EPFO Tweeted that the process of crediting interest is on and it will be reflected in your account soon. Whenever interest accrues, it will be paid in full. There will be no loss of interest.

The EPFO’s clarification comes after the Finance Ministry in October answered questions about non-crediting of interest in PF accounts of employees.

According to Finmin, there is no loss of interest for any of the clients on October 5. Interest is getting deposited in everyone’s accounts EPF subscriber, However, this is not reflected in the statements in view of a software upgrade being implemented by the EPFO ​​so as to be attributed to the change in tax incidence.

In addition, Finmin had said that for all outgoing customers seeking settlement and customers seeking withdrawal, payment is being made along with interest.

The government-backed EPFO ​​is one of the largest social security organizations in the world in terms of subscribers and volume of financial transactions done. Meanwhile, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) which is the apex decision-making body of the EPFO ​​manages a contributory provident fund, a pension scheme and an insurance scheme for employees engaged in the organized sector in India.

Generally, CBT fixes the interest rate for EPF accounts every financial year. The rate has been vetted by the Finance Ministry later. Once FINMIN gives the green signal, the rate is processed in the PF accounts for that particular financial year by CBT and EPFO. CBT is under the Ministry of Labor and Employment.

In March this year, the CBT announced an interest rate of 8.10% for EPF accounts – the lowest since 1977-78. However, still the rate of 8.1% is beating inflation. This rate will be credited on the credit of EPF in the accounts of the members for the financial year 2021-22.

Although the interest is calculated on a monthly basis in the EPF account, however, they are credited at the end of a financial year. The transferred interest is added to the next month’s balance and then compounded to calculate the interest on that month’s balance.

Here’s how to check EPFO ​​balance in passbook:

If the employee is a registered member/activates his/her UAN then it becomes easy to check your passbook. Universal Account Number (UAN) is a 12 digit number.

Step 1: To check his passbook, a member needs to visit the official website of EPFO ​​- epfindia.gov.in.

Step 2: Then, members click on the ‘Services’ section mentioned at the top of the dashboard. Under this section click on ‘For Employees’ option.

Step 3: A new page will be opened for the employees. Click on the option ‘Member Passbook’ mentioned under ‘Services’.

Step 4: Once the ‘Member Passbook’ is selected, he/she will be directed to a login page.

Step 5: Mention your UAN details along with password and answer captcha code. Then click on ‘Login’.

Step 6: You will be directed to the main EPF account where the interest earned is highlighted along with the details of contributions from both employees and employers. You can also print your passbook by clicking on ‘Download Passbook’.

Particularly, if your employer is more than one organization then you need to check your balance in passbook with different IDs. You can get your EPFO ​​ID from your salary slip.

Another way to check your balance is through messaging. Send an SMS from registered mobile number to 7738299899. The format for sending SMS will be: ‘EPFOHO UAN ENG’. The last three characters ‘ENG’ are usually the language in which you want to receive your balance details. So, you can type language like English, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Punjabi and Bengali as per your choice.

Also balance can be availed by sending a missed call to 011-22901406 or 9966044425.

However, in the SMS and Call facility, the details of the total balance will be given and not of the particular financial year.