The Hindu Business Line : EPFO trustees meet today on interest rate

THE Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will meet on Thursday to consider, among other things, the interest rate that could be paid to provident fund deposits for the current fiscal.

The CBT would also deliberate on the projected deficit in the organisation's pension fund and probable remedial measures. It would also examine the investment patters of the organisation's funds, officials said. This is the second meeting of the CBT during the current fiscal. The first meeting was held in May, while another meeting scheduled for July was postponed because of the Mumbai rains.

The meeting, according to available indications, could be a stormy one and remain inconclusive with the trustee trade union leaders airing divergent views ahead of the meeting.

The point of conflict is whether the EPFO should pay its subscribers within the limits of its interest earnings in which case it would be fixed at eight per cent or it would dip into its reserves to pay 9.5 per cent or seek Government subsidy.

The major central trade unions are divided in their stand. While the pro-Congress Indian National Trade Union Congress is of the opinion that the EPFO should stick to its means and pay eight per cent, the Leftist unions, the Centre for Indian Trade Unions and the All India Trade Union Congress demand at least 9.5 per cent with the pro-BJP Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) pitching for 12 per cent.

On the issue of bridging the pension scheme deficit of the EPFO, the CBT would discuss remedial measures that include increasing the retirement age from 58 to 60 years, thereby, creating a four-year time lag. It would also consider modes of raising contribution to the pension fund from 8.33 per cent to about 11 per cent, officials said.

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