Government Keeps EPF Interest Steady At 8.25%

Sources in the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) said EPF subscribers will have the same amount credited to their accounts soon, as the interest rate remains steady for the third consecutive year. 

According to the sources, the EPFO provides the rate of interest on EPF contributions after the same gets ratified by the government through the Ministry of Finance. They said that the Ministry of Finance has given its concurrence to 8.25 percent rate of interest fixed by Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the apex decision making body of the EPFO, chaired by the Union Minister for Labour Mansukh Mandaviya.

Earlier on March 2, 2026, the CBT in a meeting chaired by Mandaviya had decided to fix 8.25 percent rate of interest for the financial year 2025-26, marking the third consecutive year this rate has been maintained. Soon after the decision, the proposal was sent to the Ministry of Finance for concurrence as the sovereign guarantor of the EPF corpus is the Government of India, the officials said.

They said that the Ministry of Finance has approved the proposal after vetting it and the EPFO on the direction of the labour ministry is likely to credit the 8.25 per cent rate of interest for 2025-26 into subscribers’ accounts this month only.

Given the fact that the kind of IT architecture developed within the EPFO under which the entire ecosystem functions, the interest on the EPF would be credited into subscribers’ accounts immediately, the officials said.

In February last year, the EPFO had retained the 8.25 per cent rate of interest for 2024-25 fiscal year. The EPFO, in 2024, increased the interest rate marginally to 8.25 percent for 2023-24, from 8.15 per\cent in 2022-23.

In March 2022, EPFO lowered the interest on post-retirement deposits for 2021-22 to an over four-decade low of 8.10 percent from 8.5 percent in 2020-21.

The 8.10 per cent rate for 2020-21 was the lowest since 1977-78, when the rate stood at 8 per cent.

In March 2020, EPFO lowered the interest rate on provident fund deposits to a seven-year low of 8.5 percent for 2019-20, from 8.65 per cent provided for 2018-19.

The EPFO provided an 8.65 percent interest rate to its subscribers in 2016-17 and 8.55 per cent in 2017-18. The rate of interest was slightly higher at 8.8 percent in 2015-16.

The retirement fund body gave 8.75 percent rate of interest in 2013-14 as well as 2014-15, higher than 8.5 percent for 2012-13. The rate of interest was 8.25 percent in 2011-12.