Want Provident Fund account? ALERT! You may get EPF protection soon!

Provident Fund account is something that every employee wants, but not all can have. However, things are changing and even those who are not under the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) umbrella can hope to be covered soon.

The Labor Ministry is taking this initiative to change the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Act to bring self-employed individuals under PF protection. Pixabay

Provident Fund account is something that every employee wants, but not all can have. However, things are changing and even those who are not under the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) umbrella can hope to be covered soon. Yes, there is good news for individuals engaged in self-employment including drivers, servants, security guards, and others as the central government is planning to bring these workers under the purview of Provident Fund (PF) to provide protection in the form of funds for their old age. The government believes that this will make the future of these individuals safer after retirement.

The Labor Ministry is taking this initiative to change the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Act to bring self-employed individuals under PF protection, according to Economic Times. In order to do so, the government is planning to reduce the deduction of 12 per cent, which is an amount deducted in the PF fund.

Who will benefit

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After this change in the EPF act, people who are employed as drivers, security guards will be mostly benefitted. They will be brought under the purview of PF and the government will be able to fix the rate of PF deduction according to their salaries.

Employers will get big relief

In the new act, the employer will also be allowed to increase or decrease his/her contribution. According to the draft revision in the act, after scrutinizing the details, the government can inform people about the rates and timing of contribution with the help of a notification.

Approval to withdraw lumpsum from EPS

Earlier EPFO gave relief to 6.3 lakh pensioners. In a meeting in Hyderabad last week, the EPFO approved the proposal to re-establish a lumpsum (commutation) arrangement under the Employees Pension Scheme (EPS) for some part of the pension amount. The move will benefit the pensioners who opted for the commutation system and got a lump sum on retirement before 2009.

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