EPF set for huge expansion, threshold bar lowered

At present the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, covers only establishments with 20 or more employees. In the case of co-operatives the number is 50. The move along with the social security cover envisaged for unorganised sector under the Unorganised Sector Bill is expected to lead to a huge expansion of social security cover reaching out to almost all kinds of units irrespective of the number of employees.

The Board, however, deferred a decision on hiking the PF interest rates despite demands to raise them from 8.5 per cent to 12 per cent in the face of growing inflation.