EPFO To Release Interest Amount, Salary Earners To Have Lump Sum In Their Accounts Before Diwali

New Delhi: According to media reports, the interest amount for the financial year 2020-21will be released by the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to the account holders before Diwali. This will benefit about 6 crore account holders of the country.

The account holders of the EPFO will have access to a lump sum in their accounts. However, no change has been made in the interest rates for the financial year 2020-21 which has been fixed at 8.5 per cent.

This approval of this proposal by the Finance Ministry has been pending for the last six months.

During the period of March 2019-20, the interest rates were cut down by the EPFO which went down to a seven-year low of 8.5% during the pandemic. Also, the withdrawal of the retirement fund was allowed by the EPFO as a non-refundable advance.

In March 2020, a provision was made by the government under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna (PMGKY) which allow EPF member to withdraw three months' amount in advance. And as per the provision, the government allowed three months of basic pay and DA or 75% of the Provident Fund to be withdrawn by the employee, as advance.

Here's how to check the PF Balance:

1. The PF balance can be checked with the help of the passbook by visiting the official website of EPFO at epfindia.gov.in. Log in by filling in Universal Account Number, Password and Captcha. Now the EPF account will be opened and here click on the member ID and go to the passbook page.

2. A missed call service offered by the EPFO can be used to know how much money is in the PF account. For this, you have to give a missed call on 011-22901406 from the registered mobile number. A message will be sent on your registered mobile from EPFO. PF number, name, date of birth and PF balance will be written in the message. 

3. The SMS facility can also be used to find out the account balance. For this, send a message from your registered mobile number to EPFO's number 7738299899. You have to send EPFOHO UAN ENG in the message. You can get this information in many languages.

4. A mobile app can also be used to check the balance. To use this facility, you can go to the government application UMANG, on which you can do work related to PF balance, claim etc. You can check the balance in a minute by entering the OTP.

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