Good news for pension holders! EPFO may hike minimum pension by 20%

The retirement fund body EPFO may hike minimum pension by 20-25%, said a media report.

As per a Zee Business report, EPFO is scheduled to meet on July 7 where Central Board of Trustees will discuss the issue and take the final decision.

Minimum pension likely to be raised to Rs 1250, the report added.

Along with this discussion, on July 7, EPFO will also take a decision on increasing investments in stock markets through ETFs, as they have started giving returns, said Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya to PTI.

Since last August, EPFO had started investing in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) by putting 5% of its investible deposits in ETFs last fiscal. Now, there is a move to increase the proportion of such investments this fiscal.

"As on March 31, 2016 the amount invested was Rs 6,577 crore which gave a return of Rs 6,601 crore, which is up by 0.37%. As on April 30, 2016 the amount invested was Rs 6,674 crore and this gave a return of Rs 6,786 crore which is up by 1.68%", said the minister.

The proposal will go to the law department and then to the Cabinet for approval.

(With PTI inputs)