What is EPF?

Employee’s Provident Fund (EPF) is a retirement benefit scheme that’s available to all salaried employees. This fund is maintained and overseen by the Employees Provident Fund Organization of India (EPFO). This scheme helps employees to save a fraction of their salary every month so that they can use it after retirement when they are not working & earning.

What is PF?

The PF means provident fund, it refers to the contribution of money both employee and employer in the form of monthly salary deduction.

What is the PF Eligibility?

He/ She must be an employee in an organization for the minimum time of 6 months.

Provident Fund Deduction from Salary

When you start working in an organization, you and your employer both contribute 12% of your basic salary (plus dearness allowances, if any) into your EPF account. The entire 12% of your contribution goes into your EPF account along with 3.67% (out of 12%) from your employer, while the balance 8.33% from your employer’s side is diverted to your EPS (Employee’s Pension Scheme).

NOTE: If your basic pay is above Rs. 6,500 per month, your employer can only contribute 8.33% of 6,500 (i.e. Rs. 541) to your EPS and the balance goes into your EPF account.

These funds are pooled together from many employees like yourself and invested by a trust. This generates an interest of 8% – 12%, which is decided by the government and the central board of trustees. The annual interest rate is available on the official EPF India website, and is currently at 8.75%.

EPF is active every time you receive your salary. If you’re changing jobs, it’s important to also update your EPF information with your new company, giving them your EPF number so that they can continue the contribution.

What if I don’t want to EPF Scheme?

Well, there are chances that you’ve already started your professional career and you don’t want EPF scheme. The only time you can opt out of the EPF program is at the start of your career, when you tell your first boss that you don’t want to be a part of it and fill outForm 11. If you’ve contributed towards EPF even once and have an account created in your name, you cannot opt out of this scheme.Don’t worry though, as even though opting out of the EPF scheme increases your in-hand salary, an easiest way to build retirement fund.

How to register for the provident fund?

Generally, companies HR will take care of PF registration along with ESI medical services insurance and other facilities.

How to find out how much I’ve got saved?

All your EPF details are available on the EPF India website- www.epfindia.com. With the introduction of the UAN (Universal Account Number), you can now access all EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organization) facilities online. You can also check your EPF details with your EPF account number.