The EPF interest rate for FY 2025-26 is 8.25 percent, the same rate for the third year in a row. The Central Board of Trustees fixed it on 2 March 2026 and the Finance Ministry has given its concurrence, so EPFO is crediting the interest to over 7 crore members in June 2026. Here is what that rate actually earns on your balance.
Interest is calculated on the monthly running balance in your account and credited once a year, at the close of the financial year. It is not paid month by month into a separate pot; it builds up through the year and lands as a single interest entry.
Take a member, Kashvi Pathak, who starts FY 2025-26 (1 April 2025) with an opening balance of Rs 5,00,000 and has a combined employee-plus-employer share of Rs 7,500 going into EPF every month.
A simple way to picture it: the opening Rs 5,00,000 earns close to the full 8.25 percent, which is about Rs 41,250. The year's contributions, because they trickle in month by month, earn roughly half of 8.25 percent on average, which on Rs 90,000 is about Rs 3,700. So her total interest for the year is around Rs 44,900, credited as one entry around the close of the year.
Her account at the start of next year is therefore roughly Rs 5,00,000 + Rs 90,000 + Rs 44,900 = about Rs 6,34,900. The exact figure EPFO posts depends on the precise day each contribution was credited, but this is the shape of the calculation.
The key point: a higher opening balance does most of the heavy lifting, because it earns the full rate for the whole year. That is why EPF compounds well over a long career.
The interest for FY 2025-26 is being credited to member accounts in June 2026, after the Finance Ministry concurred with the 8.25 percent rate. The credit is a single end-of-year interest entry against the financial year that ended on 31 March 2026.
To check whether your interest has been posted:
You can also see your balance and the interest entry on the UMANG app under EPFO services, using the same UAN login.
The EPF interest rate is not set by a numbered gazette circular. It is fixed through a two-stage process every year.
This is why you should not look for a single notification number for the rate. The authority for it is the CBT recommendation plus the government's concurrence, and EPFO then issues an instruction to its field offices to credit interest at that rate.
If the rest of EPFO has credited interest but your account still shows no interest entry, or your passbook is not updating, act in order:
Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak, a salaried member in Jaipur, started FY 2025-26 with about Rs 3,20,000 in his EPF account and roughly Rs 4,800 a month going in. In June 2026, after the 8.25 percent rate was confirmed, his passbook showed an interest entry of about Rs 26,600 for the year, posted as a single line at the close of the financial year. His monthly contributions earned interest only for the part of the year each one was in the account, exactly as the running-balance method works.
It is 8.25 percent. The Central Board of Trustees fixed it on 2 March 2026 and the Finance Ministry gave its concurrence. This is the third consecutive year at 8.25 percent.
EPFO is crediting interest for FY 2025-26 in June 2026, after the Finance Ministry concurred with the rate. It appears as a single interest entry in your passbook for the year that ended 31 March 2026.
Interest is calculated on the monthly running balance, so your opening balance earns the full year's rate while each fresh monthly contribution earns interest only for the months it stays in the account. The total is credited once a year.
No. The rate is set by a CBT recommendation plus the government's concurrence, not by a numbered gazette notification. EPFO then instructs its offices to credit interest at the agreed rate, so do not rely on any single circular number you see quoted online.
Crediting is done in batches, so wait a few days and refresh. Make sure your KYC and bank details are correct. If it still does not appear, file a grievance on EPFiGMS at epfigms.gov.in with your UAN.
Yes, and disproportionately so. Your opening balance earns the full rate for the whole year, while contributions added through the year earn for only part of it. A larger opening balance therefore does most of the compounding work.
On the EPFO member passbook portal at passbook.epfindia.gov.in or on the UMANG app, logging in with your UAN. Open the passbook for the relevant year and look for the interest line dated at the close of the year.