Employee Provident Fund Act

Employee Provident Fund (EPF) is one of the main platforms of savings in India for nearly all people working in Government, Public or Private sector Organizations. This article is about what is Employee Provident Fund (EPF), Employee Pension Scheme (EPS), Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLIS), how the contributions are calculated based on basic salary and dearness allowance, what are the EPF interest rate, how much would one save in EPF, how would one know about the amount accumulated in PF. What is Employee Provident Fund? A provident fund is created with a purpose of providing financial security and stability to elderly people. Generally one contributes in these funds when one starts as employee, the contributions are made on a regular basis (monthly in most cases). Its purpose is to help employees save a fraction of their salary every month, to be used in an event that the employee is temporarily or no longer fit to work or at retirement. The investments made by a number of people / employees are pooled together and invested by a trust. Employee Provident Fund (EPF) is implemented by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) of India. An establishment with 20 or more workers working in any one of the 180+ industries ( given here) should register with EPFO. Typically 12% of the Basic, DA, and cash value of food allowances has to be contributed to the EPF account. EPFO is a statutory body of the Indian Government under Labour and Employment Ministry. It is one of the largest social security organisations in the world in terms of members and volume of financial transactions undertaken.

EPF, EPS, EDLIS The Constitution of India under Directive Principles of State Policy provides that the State shall within the limits of its economic capacity make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old-age, sickness & disablement and undeserved want. The EPF & MP Act, 1952 was enacted by Parliament and came into force with effect from 4th March,1952. A series of legislative interventions were made in this direction, including the Employees Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952. Presently, the following

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three schemes are in operation under the Acts:( Click on the link if interested in reading the acts which are in pdf format) 1. Employees Provident Fund Scheme, (EPS)1952 2. Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme,(EDILS) 1976 3. Employees Pension Scheme, 1995 (replacing the Employees Family Pension Scheme, 1971)(EPS) Employees Pension Scheme (EPS) of 1995 offers pension on disablement, widow pension, and pension for nominees. EPS program replaced the Family Pension Scheme (FPS). It is financed by diverting 8.33 percent of employers monthly contribution from the EPF(restricted to 8.33% of 6500 or Rs 541) and governments contribution of 1.17 percent of the workers monthly wages. The purpose of the scheme is to provide for 1) Superannuation Pension: Member who has rendered eligible service of 20 years and retires on attaining the age of 58 years. 2) Retiring Pension: member who has rendered eligible service of 20 years and retires or otherwise ceases to be in employment before attaining the age of 58 years. 3) Permanent Total Disablement Pension 4) Short service Pension: Member has to render eligible service of 10 years and more but less than 20 years. Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLIS) Under the EDLI scheme life insurance cover is provided to the PF members. The cost of the scheme is borne by the employer but as the amount of life coverage under this statutory scheme is very low (a maximum amount of Rs. 60,000), usually employers opt out of the EDLI scheme by going for group insurance scheme which usually provides higher coverage to employees without any increase in cost to the employer. EPF, EPS and EDLIS are calculated on Basic salary, Dearness allowances(DA), cash value of food concession and retaining allowances if any. Most of the organizations follow Basic+ DA Method. Retaining allowances means an allowance payable for the time being to an employee of any factory or other establishment during any period in which the establishment is not working, for retaining his services. Table below gives the rates of contribution of EPF, EPS, EDLI, Admin charges in India.

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Scheme Name Employee contribution Employer contribution Employee provident fund 12% 3.67% Employees Pension scheme 0 8.33% Employees Deposit linked insurance 0 0.5% EPF Administrative charges 0 1.1% EDLIS Administrative charges 0 0.01% In industries like beedi, jute, guar gum factories, coir industry (other than spinning sector) the Employee contribution is 10% while employers contribution is 1.67%. Employees drawing basic salary upto Rs 6500/- have to compulsory contribute to the Provident fund and employees drawing above Rs 6501/- have an option to become member of the Provident Fund. It is beneficial for employees who draw salary above Rs 6501/- to become member of Provident Fund as it is deducted from the salary before it is deposited on bank or given hence compulsorily saving happens. Employees contribution is matched by Employers contribution(till 12%) so extra money and it is helpful for tax purpose too. The employer contribution is exempt from tax and employees contribution is taxable but eligible for deduction under section 80C of Income tax Act. Calculation of Employees Provident Fund Contributions Basic salary of Rs 3500 Let us calculate the contribution of an employee who is getting a basic salary of Rs 3500. Contribution Towards Calculation Amount EPF Employees share 3500 x 12% 420 EPS Employer share 3500 x 8.33% 292 EPF employer share 3500 x 3.67% 128 EDLI charges 3500 x 0.5% 18 EPF Admin charges 3500 x 1.1% 39 EDLI Admin charges 3500 x 0.01% 0.35 ( round up to Rs 1/-) Basic salary above Rs 6500 In such cases companies uses different method for calculation as per their pay roll policy. Consider an employee getting a basic salary of 7500/- We can calculate it in different ways but EPS is calculated only up to 6500/- that means the maximum amount is fixed to Rs 541.00. The three methods mentioned below are based on the above example.

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Method-1 If company consider total basic salary above the limit fixed 6500.00 for PF calculation. Employer has decided to contribute on total basic salary which is 12 % on 7500.00 equal to 900.00. EPS Share is fixed to 541. Balance (900-541) goes to EPF account 359.00. You may be thinking that, what about 3.67%?, Here you dont need to care about it. Contribution Towards Calculation Amount EPF Employees share 7500 x 12% 900 EPS Employer share 6500 x 8.33% 541 EPF employer share 7500 x 12% (-) 541 359 EDLI charges 7500 x 0.5% 38 EPF Admin charges 7500 x 1.1% 83 0.75 ( Round up to Rs 1/-) EDLI Admin charges 7500 x 0.01% Method -2 Some companies follows the below method in which employee share is calculated on 7500/- and employer share is calculated on up limit Rs 6500/Contribution Towards Calculation Amount EPF Employees share 7500 x 12% 900 EPS Employer share 6500 x 8.33% 541 EPF employer share 6500 x 3.67% 239 EDLI charges 6500 x 0.5% 33 EPF Admin charges 6500 x 1.1% 72 EDLI Admin charges 6500 x 0.01% 0.65 ( Round up to Rs 1/-) Method-3 Some companies calculate both employer and employee shares on 6500/- in spite of higher basic salary than 6500.00 Contribution Towards Calculation Amount EPF Employees share 6500 x 12% 780 EPS Employer share 6500 x 8.33% 541 EPF employer share 6500 x 3.67% 239 EDLI charges 6500 x 0.5% 33 EPF Admin charges 6500 x 1.1% 72 EDLI Admin charges 6500 x 0.01% 0.65 ( Round up to Rs 1/-)

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EPF scheme allows partial withdrawals for the purpose of marriage/illness/higher education/house construction etc. SOME COMMON QUESTIONS: Q. What is the interest on the PF accumulations? A : Compound interest as declared by Central Govt. is paid on the amount standing to the credit of an employee as on 1st April every year. Q. What is the EPF Interest Rate? The EPF interest rate of India is decided by the central government with the consultation of Central Board of trustees. In the past several decades, the interest rate has ranged from 8-12 % of the balances maintained in the fund. The EPF interest rate notification is available on the official website of EPF India on an annual basis. The same is communicated through major dailies in all cities. To see Interest rate over the years from 1952 please click the image below.

EPF interest rate from 1951 Q. How much would one save by investing in EPF? Lets say Swayam starts with a basic salary of Rs. 20,000. Every year, on an average, he gets a 5% increment. He started at 25 years and worked till 60 years so his working life is, 35 years. He contributes 12% of his basic salary towards PF which is matched equally by ones company, (EPF contribution is 3.67%, EPS 8.67%). In this case, over the course of 35 years of his working life, his total contribution is Rs. 26.01 Lakhs. Of course, his company makes a contribution of Rs. 7.955 Lakhs, total contribution of Rs 33.967 lakh. And this amount grows into Rs. 1.38 Crores at the time of his retirement!

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EPF Benefit How is it calculated? At the beginning of each year there would be opening balance, the amount accumulated till then. Contribution is made monthly but interest is calculated yearly. On gets interest on opening balance and monthly contribution. So for next year the new opening balance would be: old opening balance + contribution throughout the year + interest on the (old opening balance + contribution) To see the calculation for each year in above example click on the image below. You can also play with EPF calculator here.

EPF calculation Q. How would I know the amount of accumulations in my PF account ? PF office sends an annual statement through the employer which gives details about the PF accumulations. The statement contains details like, Opening balance, amount contributed during the year, withdrawal during the year, interest earned and the closing balance in the PF account.
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This statement is sent by the PF department on completion of the financial year. Sample statement is shown below.

Sample PF statement Q. Is it also possible to check the EPF Account balance online? A: From July 2011 one can check the EPF Account balance online. Follow the following steps. 1) Go to www.epfindia.com/MembBal.html 2) Select EPFO Office where PF account it maintained. Suppose the account is in Punjab. Select Punjab from the Drop Down. 3) Select the office name: Once you select state in earlier state, it would then show code for various EPFO offices in Punjab. Say your EPFO office was in Ludhina. So select the office name Ludhiana, the establishment code would be LD-LDH. This would take you to next screen which has LD LDH filled for establishment code. 4) Enter PF Account Number which is in the format: EPFO Office Code/Establishment Code (Max. 7 Digits)/Extension(Max. 3 digits)/Account Number (Max 7 digit) PF Account Number may not have Extension code, in that case leave it blank. Enter the Account Number. Note: Your PF account number may have just two alphabets for EPFO Office Code then you can search the new Code at EPFI Establishment Information Search This is also available on 1st step mentioned above: Member Balance Information Search Your Establishment Code here. 5) Enter your Mobile and Name, Accept Terms and condition and Submit. Sequence of steps is shown in the images below. Click on image to enlarge.
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Know your balance Instructions

Select PF office

EPF Select PF Office EPF Enter account Number Code

You will get SMS alert from EPFO: EE amount: Rs XXXXX and ER amount Rs:XXXXX as on <Todays Date>(Account updated upto Date). EE = Employee Contribution and ER = Employer Contribution on date (shown in Account updated date) mentioned in your SMS. It does not show current balance of PF Account as on Today Q.Which form has to be filled while becoming member of provident fund? To become a member of the Employee Provident Fund one has to fill Form 11 and Nomination Form. For more details check out EPFI webpage for Employees. Sample images of the Form 11 and Form 2(front and back) are given below. Click on the image to enlarge.

Form 11

Form 2 Front

Form 2 back

Q. Can I voluntary contribute more than the statutory limit to EPF? You can contribute additional amount (over and above 12%) to Provident Fund by depositing VPF (Voluntary Provident Fund). However, employer is not bound to do a matching contribution. The employer is liable to pay contribution only on 6500 whatever is the basic salary. This is called voluntary contribution and a Joint Declaration Form needs to be filled up where the employer and the employee both have to give a declaration as to the rate at which PF would be deducted. Pension Benefits Q: When can an employee start receiving a Pension?

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A: A employee can start receiving the pension under EPS only after rendering a minimum service of 10 years and attaining the age of 58/50 years. However, no pension is payable before the age of 50 years and early pension after 50 years but before the age of 58 years is subject to discounting factor @ 4% (w.e.f. 26.09.2008) for every year falling short of 58 years. In case of death / disablement, the above restriction doesnt apply. Q: How long the pension is available? A: Lifelong pension is available to the member and upon his death members of the family are entitled for the pension. Q: What is the formula for calculating the monthly pension? A: Under Employees Pension Scheme, the monthly retiring pension is decided on the basis of Pensionable Service and Pensionable Salary and is worked out as follows Monthly pension=( Pensionable salary*Pensionable service)/70 Pensionable Salary is arrived at by considering the average contributing salary immediately preceding 12 months from the date of exit from the scheme, normally this would be limited to Rs 6,500 p.m. unless certain enhanced contributions are made by the employer with permission. Pensionable Service is the service in years rendered by the member for which contributions have been received maximum cannot exceed 35 years Q: What is the maximum amount of Pension available under EPS? A: Based on a maximum employment period of 35 years, and maximum contribution of Rs 6500, the maximum amount of pension as per the Pension formula would be = 6500 * 35)/70 = Rs 3,250 per month or Rs. 39,000(3250 * 12) per year. Q. Is the Monthly Pension paid under EPS just? The amount of pension is meager. If one would have invested Rs 541 in a recurring deposit at the rate of 8% for 35 years one would get 12,49,263 as maturity amount. If this maturity amount is put in buying the Pension plan say LICs Jeevan Akshay VI and put the above amount Rs 12,49,263 in the premium calculator of LIC with option as Annuity payable for life, one would get monthly pension of Rs 10,150 which is much more than Rs 3250. In this article we covered about EPF, EPS, the calculation etc. In the next article we shall cover about how to withdraw or transfer from EPF, EPS. Difference between EPF and PPF? If you find something missing or incorrect please let us know, we shall correct is As Soon As Possible (ASAP). Hope you found this article helpful. What are you thoughts on EPF? Does it make sense to contribute to EPF?

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EPF, EPS, EDLIS rates in India

EPF, EPS and EDLIS are calculated on Basic salary, dearness allowances, cash value of food concession and retaining allowances if any. Retaining allowances means an allowance payable for the time being to an employee of any factory or other establishment during any period in which the establishment is not working, for retaining his services. Most of the organizations are following Basic+ DA Method. Below table tells you the rates of contribution of EPF, EPS, EDLI, Admin charges in India.
Scheme Name Employee provident fund Employees Pension scheme Employees Deposit linked insurance Employee contribution 12% 0 Employer contribution 3.67% 8.33% Paid to A/c No 1 10

0.5%

21

EPF Administrative charges 0 EDLIS Administrative charges 0

1.1% 0.01%

2 22

Sick industries like beedi, jute, guar gum factories, coir industry other than spinning sector
Scheme Name Employee provident fund Employee contribution 10% Employer contribution 1.67% 8.33% 0.5% Paid to A/c No 1 10 21

Employees Pension scheme 0 Employees Deposit linked insurance 0

EPF Administrative charges 0 EDLIS Administrative charges 0

1.1% 0.01%

2 22

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Inspection charges payable by employer Inspection charges must be paid by the employer in the following Cases.
1. Some establishment are exempted from EDLI contribution as they are providing the same nature of benefit without any contributions from employee, such establishments are liable to pay 0.005% on Basic salary 2. The establishments exempted under the scheme should pay 0.18% of Basic salary towards inspection charges. EPF Ceiling Limit

EPF ceiling limit is fixed to 6500/-.The employer is liable to pay contribution only on 6500/Whatever is the basic salary

Calculation of Employees provident fund

Let us calculate the contribution of an employee who is getting a basic salary of Rs 3500/Contribution Towards EPF Employees share EPS Employer share EPF employer share EDLI charges EPF Admin charges EDLI Admin charges Calculation 3500 x 12% 3500 x 8.33% 3500 x 3.67% 3500 x 0.5% 3500 x 1.1% 3500 x 0.01% Amount 420 292 128 18 39 0.35 ( round up to Rs 1/-)

The above calculation is easy and thereon complication. Calculation of EPF for employees getting a basic salary over and above the ceiling limit 6500/In such cases companies uses different method for calculation as per their pay roll policy. Consider an employee getting a basic salary of 7500/We can calculate it in different ways. The only thing you should take care is, EPS is calculated only up to 6500/- that means the maximum amount is fixed to Rs 541.00. The three methods mentioned below are based on the above example.
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Method-1 If your company consider total basic salary above the limit fixed 6500.00 for PF calculation
Contribution Towards EPF Employees share EPS Employer share EPF employer share EDLI charges EPF Admin charges EDLI Admin charges Calculation 7500 x 12% 6500 x 8.33% 7500 x 12% (-) 541 6500 x 0.5% 6500 x 1.1% 6500 x 0.01% Amount 900 541 359 32.5 71.5 0.65 ( Round up to Rs 1/-)

I will explain how Employer contribution of EPS and EPF is calculated. Employer is decided to contribute on total basic salary which is 12 % on 7500.00 equal to 900.00 EPS Share is fixed to 541.00 Balance (900-541) goes to EPF account 359.00 Total share 900.00 Out of Rs 900.00 EPS share is RS 541/- which is fixed for a basic salary greater than 6500/-. The balance amount is 900-541 = 359.00 which willgo to EPF account. You may be thinking that, what about 3.67%?, Here you dont need to care about it. Method2 Some companies follows the below method in which employee share is calculated on 7500/- and employer share is calculated on up limit Rs 6500/Contribution Towards EPF Employees share EPS Employer share EPF employer share Calculation 7500 x 12% 6500 x 8.33% 6500 x 3.67% Amount 900 541 239

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EDLI charges EPF Admin charges EDLI Admin charges

6500 x 0.5% 6500 x 1.1% 6500 x 0.01%

33 72 0.65 ( Round up to Rs 1/-)

Method3 Some are calculating both employer and employee shares on 6500/- in spite of higher basic salary than 6500.00
Contribution Towards EPF Employees share EPS Employer share EPF employer share EDLI charges EPF Admin charges EDLI Admin charges Calculation 6500 x 12% 6500 x 8.33% 6500 x 3.67% 6500 x 0.5% 6500 x 1.1% 6500 x 0.01% Amount 780 541 239 33 72 0.65 ( Round up to Rs 1/-)

SOURCE: http://www.bemoneyaware.com/blog/epf/

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