EPFO IS IN PLAN TO INCREASE SALARY LIMIT TO ₹21000/-

Government can increase the salary limit for the retirement savings scheme of the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). The present limit is Rs 15,000. It is being considered to increase limit to Rs 21,000. Where total number of employees is more then 20, the employee and the employer have to contribute their respective shares to the retirement savings scheme of PF. According to the news of The Economic Times, a committee will also be formed to decide on the salary limit in near future.

12% of the basic salary of the employee goes to EPFO. Company / employer also puts the same amount in there PF account. However, out of 12 % of the company portion, 8.33 %  goes to the employee’s pension scheme and 3.67 % to the EPF.

So far changes in salary limit has been incorporated for 8 times. When the scheme was started in 1952, basis salary limit was Rs.500. After that in 1962 it was increased to Rs 1,000 then to Rs 1,600 in 1976, Rs 2,500 in 1985, Rs 3,500 in 1990, Rs 5,000 in 1994, Rs 6,500 in 2001 and Rs 15,000 in 2014. If this time the limit will be increased to Rs 21,000, then 75 lakh more employees will come under EPFO .Presently there are more than 6.8 crore employees registered under EPFO.

Date : 7/1/23 Information from Source.

Annapurna Finance on same path of Bandhan Bank

Bhubaneswar-based company Annapurna Finance has applied for the universal bank licence and set itself on the same path that Bandhan Bank took eight years ago.Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said Annapurna Finance is the only entity who had applied for a universal bank licence in last month ie. December through the on-tap licensing route.If it makes the cut then company will become second microfinance institution to receive a universal bank licence after Bandhan Bank in 2015. This, after Sachin Bansal-backed Chaitanya India Fin Credit fell short in 2022.The journey of Annapurna Finance began in 1990 as a society by the name of People’s Forum. Promoted by Gobinda Chandhra Pattnaik, the forum began operations in the Khurda district of Odisha with an aim to help self-help groups and promote socioeconomic development of surrounding area.

Broadly company is engaged in microfinance lending to women borrowers under self-help groups, joint-liability groups, individual loans, housing loans and MSME loans.Annapurna Finance has strong capitalisation, long track record of the promoters in the microfinance industry and diversified resource profile lend comfort as far as the ability of the company to repay loans is concerned, says credit rating agency CareEdge. In fact, CareEdge has reaffirmed its ‘CARE A’ rating on the company’s Rs 1,312 crore long-term facility and ‘Stable Outlook’, according to a press release dated December 28.

Date :7/1/23  Information from Sources