PF interest credited to member accounts by July 15: Minister
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Annual interest on deposits in the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) will be credited to the accounts of participants by July 15, Union Labor Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Wednesday (July 8, 2026).
Talking to reporters on the Centralized IT Enabled Services (CITES) project to update the database of the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), the minister said that over ₹1.44 crore interest will be credited to the accounts of 34 lakh members. The Union Finance Ministry recently approved the recommendation of the Central Board of Trustees of EPFO to provide interest at 8.25%.
The minister said that under the new system, interest will be automatically processed and then verified by local authorities before being credited to members’ accounts. “Members will be able to view the interest credit on their passbooks till July 15. Earlier, once the EPF interest rate was announced, it usually took till October or November for the interest to be credited,” the minister said.
The CITES project, he said, is designed to improve the convenience of members, enhance operational efficiency of EPFO and provide transparent and seamless citizen-centric services. “EPFO has completed the process of migrating its entire database of member records to a new centralized database. Now a member’s service request can be processed from any authorized location across the country,” he added.
Read | Old wine, new bottle: on recent EPFO changes
Mr. Mandaviya said that claims will now undergo automated pre-validation before processing at EPFO offices. “Any deficiencies or discrepancies will be identified in advance and members will be given appropriate guidance, thereby significantly reducing rejections and improving the first-time acceptance rate. Members will also be able to know the eligible amount they can apply for withdrawal from their PF accounts under the various types of withdrawals allowed and can make an informed decision,” the minister said.
He said the partial withdrawal rules have been streamlined into three simplified categories – basic needs (such as illness, education and marriage), housing needs and special circumstances – making the withdrawal process easier and more understandable. “Members will now be able to withdraw up to 75% of their total PF balance,” he added.
Published – 8 Jul 2026 22:28 IST