EPFO cuts rate on employee provident fund to 7-year low of 8.5% for FY20

The EPFO had given an interest rate of 8.65% in the previous financial year to roughly 170 million subscribers

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Thursday decided to slash the interest rates on provident fund savings of formal sector workers to a seven-year low of 8.5 per cent for the year 2019-20.

The EPFO had given an interest rate of 8.65 per cent in the previous financial year to roughly 170 million subscribers.

The decision was mainly because of two reasons: EPFO getting a lower rate of return on its investments in government securities and the body’s view to keep higher surplus owing to economic uncertainties, two people who were part of the deliberations said.

The decision was