Can Employees Boost Their PF Contribution Beyond 12%? Seeking Guidance on Feasibility and Process

Dear Seniors, there are some employees in our office who want to increase their PF contribution by more than 12% (employee share). Please let me know if this is feasible. If yes, then what is the process for it, and will the employer also have to increase their contribution?

Thank you

Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) Contribution

Any EPF member who is registered under your establishment can apply for an increase in the employee share by more than 12% as VPF. An EPF member can choose VPF to increase contributions by an extra 12%, 24%, 36%, or any fixed amount. The EPF member can contribute 100% of their basic salary + DA. You should design a format for declaration by the EPF member and submit it to the RPFC Office.

The employer's share remains the same, i.e., 12%. The employer will not contribute any excess amount.

You may draft a format for Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) with consultation from your Regional EPFO office. I have attached a copy of the format for your reference.

Date: [Date Removed]

To,

The Regional PF Commissioner
PF Building, Sub Regional Office
Vijay Nagar
Jabalpur

Subject: Increase of Own PF Contribution as VPF

Dear Sir,

I am an employee of M/s [Company Name Removed] having UAN [UAN Removed] or PF A/c No. [PF Account Number Removed]. I want to increase my own PF contribution by [Amount Removed] per month with effect from [Date Removed]. You are therefore requested to kindly allow for the same.

Thanks & Regards

Signature:
Name:
UAN:
PF A/c No.:

Higher PF Contribution Process

The RPFC will not entertain such forms. Also, there is no prescribed format for higher contribution. Therefore, if the employee(s) wish to contribute at a higher rate than 12%, you can get a consent letter authorizing your Personnel Officer to deduct PF from the salary accordingly and remit the same along with the other contributions. There is no need to submit any declaration or consent letter to the EPFO. Even the consent letter mentioned above is only to safeguard our own interests so that tomorrow the employee should not say that he did not ask for a higher contribution but the Personnel Manager/HR Manager/employer only did it without his permission. A specimen of such an application/consent is attached for your reference.

Any higher contribution can be stopped at any point in time on getting instruction from the employee.

Voluntary Provident Fund (VPF) Contributions

You cannot opt out of or withdraw from a VPF scheme in the middle of the year. You can contribute 100% of your basic salary plus dearness allowance (DA) as an investment in VPF. If the VPF money withdrawal takes place within five years, you need to pay tax on the interest amount earned from your contribution towards the VPF.

Managing VPF Contributions

You can choose to start, stop, increase, or decrease your VPF contributions every month. However, some employers or companies provide a window to make these changes only at the beginning of the financial year. Therefore, you need to check with your employer or company.