The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has started crediting the annual interest for the financial year 2025-26 to subscribers' provident fund (PF) accounts at the approved rate of 8.25%. The interest credit process began on July 15, marking the first time the retirement fund body has processed interest for all member accounts in a single exercise after migrating to its new Centralised IT Enabled Services (CITES) platform.
The move benefits around 34 crore EPFO member accounts, with more than ₹1.44 lakh crore being credited as annual interest. According to Union Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, the new centralised digital system has significantly reduced the time taken to complete the annual interest credit process, which in previous years often stretched until October or November.
Interest credited much earlier this year
The Union Finance Ministry recently approved the EPFO's recommendation to retain the annual interest rate at 8.25% for FY2025-26. Under the revamped system, the interest is automatically processed before being verified by field authorities and credited to members' accounts.
A senior EPFO official said members should now be able to view the credited interest in their passbooks for FY2025-26. Earlier, subscribers typically had to wait several months after the interest rate announcement before the amount reflected in their accounts.
The faster credit process follows the implementation of EPFO's Centralised IT Enabled Services (CITES) project, which migrated the retirement fund body's database to a new digital platform designed to improve service delivery and processing timelines.
How to check if your EPF interest has been credited
EPFO members can verify whether the annual interest has been credited through multiple official channels:
- EPFO Member Passbook portal
- Passbook Lite
- UMANG app
To check the updated balance through the EPFO Member Passbook portal:
- Log in using your Universal Account Number (UAN) and password.
- Open the Passbook section.
- Select Passbook Summary.
- View your employee and employer contributions, annual interest credited and the latest available balance.
Members can also use Passbook Lite for a quick summary of recent contributions, withdrawals and current balance without completing the full login process. The UMANG app offers similar services, including viewing PF balance, tracking contributions, filing claims and downloading account statements.
What if the interest is not showing yet?
Subscribers whose passbooks have not yet been updated need not worry.
Under Paragraph 60 of the EPF Scheme, 1952, interest is calculated on the monthly running balance and remains payable irrespective of when the credit entry appears in the passbook. This means a delay in displaying the interest does not reduce the amount payable to members.
EPFO has also indicated that while its online services are operational after the large-scale system migration, some claim processing and online service requests may continue to experience temporary delays as the upgraded platform stabilises.