Last updated – Jan 25th, 2022
GPF is a General Provident Fund started by the government to help public sector employees save money for their retirement purpose.
Current GPF Interest Rate 2022-22
Current revised GPF interest rates are 7.1% for the first quarter with effect from 1 April 2020 till 31st March 2022. Earlier, the government was paying 7.9% interest rate on GPF contribution. Then govt has decided to unchanged the revised rates throughout the financial year of 2021-22.
GPF Interest Rate Table Year Wise
You can check the last 3 years GPF interest rates below. I have given it a tabular for easy comparison.
| Financial Year (Quarterly) | Interest Rate (%) |
| Jan 2021 to Mar 2022 (Current) | 7.10% |
| Oct 2020 to Dec 2020 | 7.10% |
| Jul 2020 to Sep 2020 | 7.10% |
| Apr 2020 to Jun 2020 | 7.10% |
| Jan 2020 to Mar 2020 | 7.90% |
| Oct 2019 to Dec 2019 | 7.90% |
| Jun 2019 to Sep 2019 | 7.90% |
| Apr 2019 to Jun 2019 | 8.00% |
| Jan 2019 to Mar 2019 | 8.00% |
| Oct 2018 to Dec 2018 | 8.00% |
| Jul 2018 to Sep 2018 | 7.60% |
| Apr 2018 to Jun 2018 | 7.60% |
| Jan 2018 to Mar 2018 | 7.60% |
| Oct 2017 to Dec 2018 | 7.80% |
| Jul 2017 to Sep 2017 | 7.80% |
| Apr 2017 to Jun 2017 | 7.90% |
Also check out – NSC Interest Rates 2022
GPF Interest Rate Calculator
Let me show you how to calculate GPF interest
I = P/12+ OB x R/100
Where,
I = Interest calculated
P = Progressive total of monthly contributions
OB = Opening Balance if any
R = Rate of Interest
Example of GPF calculation.
Let’s assume you are contributing Rs. 5,000 per month into your GPF account starting from the April month.
Your monthly contribution – Rs.5,000
| Month | Subscription | Progressive Balance |
| April | 5,000 | 5,000 |
| May | 5,000 | 10,000 |
| June | 5,000 | 15,000 |
| July | 5,000 | 20,000 |
| August | 5,000 | 25,000 |
| September | 5,000 | 30,000 |
| October | 5,000 | 35,000 |
| November | 5,000 | 40,000 |
| December | 5,000 | 45,000 |
| January | 5,000 | 50,000 |
| February | 5,000 | 55,000 |
| March | 5,000 | 60,000 |
| 60,000 | 3,90,000 |
Rate of Interest – 8%
Calculation of interest = 390000 / 12 x 8.8 / 100 = 2860
Closing balance as on 31st March will be = 60,000 + 2,860 = 62,860
Eligibility Criteria for General Provident Fund
As per the General Provident Fund Rules 1960, anyone who fulfills any of the following criteria is eligible for GPF benefits.
- All temporary government servants after 1 year of continuous service
- All permanent government employees.
- All re-employed retired government pensioners
- All government employees working in establishments covered by the EPF Act, 1952.
But here’s the catch.
Indian government amended this act in 2004.
As per the new ruling, any government employee who has joined after 01.01.2004 is not eligible for General Provident Fund benefits.
They are eligible to Contributory Provident Fund (CPF) and they can avail the benefits of the National Pension System (Central Government) or National Pension System (State Government) as per their service criteria.
You would like to check – Current fixed deposit interest rate
How GPF Different From PPF And EPF
Let’s compare three major provident funds. Both resemble their names but they are totally different in nature of work.
General Provident Fund (GPF) is for permanent employees working in the government sector. Any public servant joined before 2004 can enjoy the benefits of GPF.
Employees Provident Fund (EPF) is for private-sector employees working in a company with 20+ employees. Employees can contribute upto 12% of their salary and similar percentage amount is added by the employer.
This is the best retirement cum investment instrument for private-sector employees.
Public Provident Fund (PPF) is, on the other hand, a long term investment scheme to encourage non-employed people to invest for their retirement purpose.
Any citizen of India can apply for PPF account and invest for a term of 15 years. However this term can be extended in the blocks of 5 years.
Best for non-salaried or self employed who want to save for the long term and save money from tax as well.
You can compare the GPF from PPF and EPF in the following table.
| Category | GPF | EPF | PPF |
| Eligibility | Only govt employees (joined before 2004) | Organised sector employees | Any Indian citizen whether employed or self dependent |
| Interest Rate | 7.1% | 8.5% | 7.1% |
| Maturity Period | On retirement from service | At the age of 58 years | 15-years tenure |
| Premature Closure | On leaving govt job | After 2 months of unemployment | After 5 years, for medical treatment or children’s higher education purpose |
FAQs
#1. How Much a Government Employee Can Contribute in GPF?
A government employee can contribute a minimum of 6% of their salary. Maximum contribution allowed is 100%.
#2. What is GPF Part-final withdrawal?
GPF Part-Final withdrawal (also called partial withdrawal) is the amount you can withdraw from your GPF account for specific reasons that you don’t have to pay back to the account.
#3. What is a GPF Advance?
GPF Advance is an interest-free loan against your GPF Account allowed under some conditions. GPF advance comes under sub Rule (1) of Rule 12 of GPF (CS) RULES, 1960.
Features of GPF Advance are as below-
- You can repay the loan in monthly installments.
- You don’t have to pay any interest on the GPF advance amount.
- But you won’t earn any interest on the amount taken as advance.
#4. What are the specific reasons under which GPF Advance is permitted?
You can take GPF advance under following circumstances.
- Higher education of self, or children
- Legal expenditure
- Religious vow,
- Engagement/Ring ceremony (before marriage) expenses
- Marriage like ceremonies
- On consumer product purchases such as TV, refrigerator, washing machine, and computers
#5. What is the maximum amount that can be taken as GPF Advance?
An employee can’t get more than 50% of the available balance or 3 month’s salary (whichever is less).
However, the sanctioning officer may allow up to 75% of available as GPF advance depending upon the severity of circumstances.
#6. What are the specific reasons under which GPF withdrawal is allowed?
You can withdraw GPF under special conditions like purchase or construction of house, repairs or renovation of the house. Apart from that following reasons are also valid for GPF withdrawal-
- Higher education of self, or children
- Legal expenditure
- Religious vow,
- Engagement/Ring ceremony (before marriage) expenses
- Marriage like ceremonies
- On consumer product purchases such as TV, refrigerator, washing machine, and computers
#7. What is the minimum length of service required to withdraw from the GP fund?
An employee is required to complete 15 years of service or less than 10 years remaining to retire.
#8. Is it possible to convert a GPF Advance to a part final withdrawal?
Yes. An employee can convert its GPF advance into GPF partial withdrawal.
#9. Is the GPF amount is taxable?
GPF contribution paid during service, interest accumulated is also exempted form taxes under Income Tax Act, 1961.
#10. My GPF account shows details that are old. Why is it not updated?
As per my own research, the treasury department has to perform multiple activities like compiling the vouchers/schedules, data entries, and verification of records.
Department takes up to three months to update the records. Rest varies from department to department and state to state.
Conclusion
Now you know everything about GPF and you know no one can benefit from GPF except government employees joined service before 2004. That means even todays’ regular employees can’t enjoy the benefits of GPF.
So its better to find out alternative option. You can invest in PPF if you want a secure investment instrument, or you can go for mutual funds thorugh SIP.
Mutual funds may be risk oriented investment segment but if you invest in high quality funds, you can yield better returns than GPF.
If you have any questions regarding GPF. Do tell me in the comments.
