The corona epidemic has had a major impact on the EPFO Employees Provident Fund Organization. EPFO closed 71.01 lakh EPF accounts between April-December last year. Union Labor Minister Santosh Gangwar has given a written reply in Parliament. He said that 71,01,929 PF accounts were closed between April-December 2020. Whereas in the year 2019, 66,66,563 accounts were closed between April and December. Pensions, job losses and changing jobs are believed to be the reason behind such a large number. Significantly, due to Kovid-19 lakhs of employees became unemployed. In such a situation, he has withdrawn money from EPF and driven home.
Labor Minister Santosh Gangwar has stated that the number of partial withdrawals from EPF increased between April-December 2020. This number stood at 1,27,72,120. At the same time, in 2019, the number of withdrawals was 54,42,884. 73,498 crore has been withdrawn from the EPF account between April and December last year. In the year 2019, this amount was Rs 55,125 crore. In another reply, he has told about the self-reliant Bharat Rojgar Yojana that as on 28 February 2021, 1.83 lakh companies have been registered. In which 15.30 lakh people have got jobs. Gangwar has further stated that till February 28, 2021, Rs.186.34 crore has been released under ABRY. Under this scheme, an attempt has been made to provide employment and social facilities during the corona transition. The scheme is being run by the EPFO. In another reply, he has stated that EPFO has invested Rs 27,532,39 crore in exchange traded funds till 28 February 2021.
Preparing to pay 8.50% interest to EPF customers for 2020-21
The current rate of falling interest rates has also brought good news for the employees of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). The Central Board of Trustees, EPF, has recommended an 8.50% annual rate of interest to be deposited on EPF in members’ accounts for the financial year 2020-21. The EPFO announcement of PF rate at 8.5% is a good news for all customers. Considering that all other types of interest rates were falling in the Corona period, it was feared that the effect of Kovid would be reflected in PF interest as well, but this did not happen. The decision was taken today at the 228th meeting of the Central Board held in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, under the chairmanship of Union Minister of State for Labor and Employment (Independent Charge) Santosh Kumar Gangwar, Apoorva Chandra, Secretary (L&E). The interest rate will be officially notified in the official gazette after which the EPFO will credit the rate of interest in the accounts of the customers.
EPFO released payroll data, adding 62.49 lakh subscribers by January 2021
The Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has recorded a 24% increase in new enrollments. According to the provisional payroll data of EPFO released on Saturday, the customer base saw a jump with the addition of 13.36 lakh net subscribers during the month of January 2021. Despite the COVID-19 epidemic, EPFO added about 62.49 lakh subscribers during the current financial year. This data shows an increase of 24% for the month of January, 2021 to December, 2020. According to a PIB release, the year-over-year comparison of payroll data shows a 27.79% increase in net subscriber growth compared to the same period in the previous year, indicating a return to EPFO’s customer growth. Out of the 13.36 lakh net subscribers added during the month of January 2021, about 8.20 lakh new members will get the benefit of social security schemes of EPFO for the first time. Members are now taking advantage of the hassle-free auto-transfer of PF holdings from the old PF account to the new PF account upon job change, which facilitates continuation of their membership with EPFO.
Data from the Net Payroll Edition shows that the number of exiting members from the EPFO has been steadily decreasing since reaching peak in June 2020 during the last fiscal year. This trend indicates that the adverse effect of COVID-19 on the exit of EPFO members is gradually abolished. Exited members data is based on claims submitted by individuals / establishments and exit data uploaded by employers, while the number of new customers is based on the Universal Account Number (UAN) in the system.
