Hi Pallavi,
Provident Fund is a compulsory contributory fund for the future of the employee after their retirement or for their dependents in case of their early death. Every company having 20 or more employees is required to be registered under this Act. It's a contributory fund where both the employee and employer are required to contribute 12% of the basic salary, totaling 24%.
Out of this 24%, 12% of the employee's and 3.67% of the employer's contributions go to the Provident fund, while 8.33% of the employer's contribution goes to the Pension fund. The maximum ceiling on the basic salary to be a member of this fund is 6500/- per month. One may be a member even after surpassing that ceiling amount, but the contribution remains the same at 12% of 6500/-, i.e., 780/- only. In some cases, the contribution may be based on the actual basic salary.
I hope this clears your queries with PF.
Regards,
Amit Seth.