The Employees' Provident Fund (EPF)- External website that opens in a new window is one of the most beneficial and popular investment scheme for the salaried persons in India.
The EPF is one of the main platforms of savings for all employees working in Government, Public or Private sector Organizations. It came into existence with the promulgation of the Employees' Provident Funds Ordinance on the 15th November, 1951. It was replaced by the Employees' Provident Funds Act, 1952. It is now referred as the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 which extends to the whole of Indian except Jammu and Kashmir. The Employees' Provident Funds Bill was introduced in the Parliament as Bill Number 15 of the year 1952 as a Bill to provide for the institution of provident funds for employees in factories and other establishments. Since its enactment in 1952, the Act has been amended 15 times till now
The PF account benefits are extended to all the establishments which employ 20 or more persons.
Provident fund is created with a purpose of providing financial security and stability to employees. A person starts his contribution in the PF fund once he joins a company as an employee. The contributions are made on a regular basis. The primary purpose of PF fund is to help employees save a fraction of their salary every month so that he can use the same in an event that the employee is temporarily or no longer fit to work or at retirement.
This scheme is applicable to all the employees whose salary (basic +allowances) is of Rs. 15000 or less.