7th Pay Commission: The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of EPFO has announced the new interest rate for the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account for the financial year 2023-24. EPFO has given a gift to about 7 crore employees of the country by increasing it to 8.25 percent.
Giving a big gift to PF account holders, Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) on Saturday announced increase in interest rates, it has now been increased to 8.25 percent. After the increase in interest on PF in the election year, now an increase in Dearness Allowance (DA Hike) is being expected soon.
If reports are to be believed, the government may take a major decision on this in March 2024. If this happens, then the DA given to central employees will be 50 percent.
Interest on PF increased, expectation of DA increased-
The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of EPFO has announced the new interest rate for the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account for the financial year 2023-24. EPFO has given a gift to about 7 crore employees of the country and has increased it to 8.25 percent. According to PTI, PF account holders will now get 0.10 percent more interest than before.
On March 28 last year, EPFO had announced an interest rate of 8.15 percent for Employees Provident Fund (EPF) accounts for 2022-23. With the increase in PF interest rate, the expectation of DA hike has also increased among the central employees.
4% DA hike expected in March-
The government increases the dearness allowance of employees twice a year and the DA Hike for the January-June half year is expected to be announced in March 2024. If reports are to be believed, this time the government can give a gift of 4 percent DA Hike to the central employees before the elections and it can be announced next month.
Let us tell you here that this expectation is being expressed on the basis of various reports, whereas no official comment has been made by the government in this regard yet. But if there is an increase of 4 percent in DA, then there will be a bumper increase in the salary of the employees. At present the DA of central employees is 46 percent, which can be increased to 50 percent.
Along with DA, increase in HRA is also possible-
On one hand, a 4 percent increase in dearness allowance of central employees is being expected and if this happens, then the employees will get its benefit from January 1, 2024. Along with this, when the dearness allowance reaches 50 percent, there may also be an increase in the house rent allowance given to the employees.
In the month of July 2021, when DA crossed 25 percent, an increase of 3 percent was seen in HRA and it was increased to 27 percent. In such a situation, HRA hike is once again expected when DA is 50 percent and if reports are to be believed, it can be increased to 30 percent.
Revision is done twice a year-
The government revises the dearness allowance given to central employees twice a year. The benefits of which are given to them from 1st January and 1st July. Talking about its calculation, Dearness Allowance or DA is an important part of the salary of the employees and the increase in it has a direct impact on the salary received by the employees. It is determined on the basis of inflation rate.
The higher the inflation, the higher the increase in DA of employees is expected. All India CPI-IW for December 2023 declined by 0.3 points to 138.8. On this basis, it is being estimated that the government may increase DA by 4 percent.
If DA is increased, salary will increase by-
If we look at the salary hike calculation of central employees after DA Hike, if a central employee gets a basic pay of Rs 18,000, then the dearness allowance of the employee is currently Rs 8,280 at the rate of 46 per cent, whereas after an increase of 4 per cent in it, If calculated according to 50 percent, it will increase to Rs 9,000. That means, there will be a direct increase of Rs 720 in his salary.
If we calculate it on the basis of maximum basic pay, then an employee getting Rs 56,900 gets DA of Rs 26,174 at the rate of 46 per cent, if it is 50 per cent then the figure will become Rs 28,450. That means the salary will increase by Rs 2,276.
