New Delhi: The government on Thursday said it will pay the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) contribution for both employers and employees for the next three months for some firms.
The announcement was made as part of a Rs 1.7 lakh crore economic stimulus package aimed at giving relief to the crores of poor hit by the nationwide lockdown in the country, said finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
At a press conference, she said the EPF contribution, however, will only be for those establishments who have up to 100 employees, and where 90 percent earn less than Rs 15,000 per month.
This means government will pay 24 percent of an individual's salary (12 percent of employee and 12 percent of employer) for the next three months for companies that comes under the announced criteria.
The announcement was made two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered a 21-day nationwide lockdown to try to protect India's 1.3 billion people from the fast-spreading coronavirus.
Sitharaman also said that EPF scheme regulation will be amended to allow a non-refundable advance to 75 percent of the amount standing to the credit or three months wages, whichever is lower, to help the cash crunch people may be facing. This will benefit 4.8 crore workers, she added.