The government today announced that public provident Fund (GPF) Rate of interest Will remain unchanged for the October to December 2021 quarter. According to a circular issued on the website of Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) dated October 5, 2021, “It is announced for general information that during the year 2021-22, the credits of customers of General Provident Fund and other similar funds shall be But the accumulation will be an interest rate of 7.1% (seven point one percent) from 1 October 2021 to 31 December 2021. This rate will be applicable from 1 October 2021.”

As per the circular, the respective funds are:

1. General Provident Fund (Central Services);
2. Contributory Provident Fund (India);
3. All India Services Provident Fund;
4. State Railway Provident Fund;
5. General Provident Fund (Defence Services);
6. Indian Ordnance Department Provident Fund;
7. Indian Ordnance Factory Workers Provident Fund;
8. Indian Naval Dock Workers Provident Fund;
9. Defense Services Officers Provident Fund; And
10. Armed Forces Personnel Future

EPF is a mandatory retirement savings option available to the salaried people in the organized sector. In this case, the contribution is made by both the employee and the employer. The interest rate on EPF for the financial year 2020-21 is 8.5%; The government is yet to announce the rate for the financial year 2021-22.

On the other hand, GPF account is a provident fund account which is available only to government employees. These employees can contribute a certain percentage of their salary to the General Provident Fund. Therefore, the total amount accumulated during the employment period is paid to the employee at the time of retirement.

small savings rates

Just last week, the government had also announced that the interest rates small savings schemes will remain unchanged for the December quarter. This means that for the quarter ended December 31, 2021, investors in small savings schemes like Public Provident Fund (PPF) and Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana (SSY) will continue to earn the same interest rate as they would have earned at the end of the quarter. Were were September 30, 2021. Fresh investments made in these schemes during the October-December 2021 quarter will also attract the same rate of interest as the previous quarter.

This was announced by the Ministry of Finance through a circular on September 30, 2021. According to the ministry’s circular, PPF will continue to earn 7.1%, NSC will earn 6.8%, and Post Office Monthly Income Scheme account will earn 6.6%.
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