Employees Provident Fund Distributes NPR 5.3 Billion in Profit to Contributors

Kathmandu. The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) has distributed NPR 5.30 billion in profit to its contributors and members. The fund deposited this amount into the respective accounts of individuals from the total profit earned in the fiscal year 2081/82.

According to the fund, approximately NPR 5.19 billion in profit was deposited into the accounts of provident fund members, and about NPR 105.5 million was deposited into the accounts of contributors to the Defined Contribution Pension Fund. This amount was sent to the accounts following the decision made by the Board of Directors meeting on Falgun 27, which resolved to distribute an amount equivalent to 1.00 percent of the initial balance in the individual accounts as profit.

The fund has a policy of depositing approximately 90 percent of the total profit of each fiscal year into the individual accounts of the contributors, keeping the remaining amount in various welfare and reserve funds.

The fund has provided an interest rate of 4.25 percent on the accumulated savings for the current fiscal year to the contributors and members. Furthermore, contributors can obtain a special loan of up to 95 percent of their accumulated savings from the fund at an interest rate of 5.75 percent for the security of their accumulated savings, informed Damodar Prasad Subedi, spokesperson for the fund. In addition to special loans, the fund also provides housing loans, education loans, home repair loans, simple loans, and land purchase loans.

The fund also provides various social security benefits from its own resources without taking any separate contributions from the contributors. In the last fiscal year 2078/79 alone, the fund distributed approximately NPR 143.4 million to 19,111 individuals for maternity and childcare benefits, NPR 24.2 million to 605 individuals for funeral expenses, NPR 33.9 million to 170 individuals for accident compensation, and NPR 340 million to 5,355 individuals for medical treatment reimbursement, according to a press release.

Furthermore, the statement mentioned that NPR 17.3 million was provided to 172 civil service contributors as special financial assistance. Currently, 578,000 contributors and 96,000 pension fund contributors are affiliated with the Employees Provident Fund.