Why is my employer's contribution to the fund lower than mine?

Because most of it is diverted. Of the employer's twelve percent, 8.33% goes to the Employees Pension Scheme and only about 3.67% reaches your provident fund balance. Your own twelve percent goes in whole.

Is the interest rate fixed?

No. It is declared each year and has drifted down over the past two decades. Assuming today's rate for a thirty-year career is optimistic.

InvestmentretirementIndia only

VPF Calculator

Voluntary Provident Fund: contributing above the statutory twelve percent. The employer does not match the extra, so every additional rupee is entirely your own, earning the same declared rate.

Also called: voluntary provident fund, vpf vs ppf.

Fund at withdrawal

₹1,16,56,380

₹1,16,56,380 after 25 years. You contributed ₹34,36,351 and your employer ₹10,50,951, and interest added ₹71,69,078, which is 61.5% of the final balance.

Your contributions

₹34,36,351

Employer's share reaching the fund

₹10,50,951

Total paid in

₹44,87,302

Interest earned

₹71,69,078

Interest as a share of the corpus

61.5%

Employer money diverted to the pension scheme

₹23,85,400

Monthly income if annuitised at 6%

₹58,282

How this is calculated

An estimate, not an offer or a guarantee. Projected returns assume the rate you entered holds for the whole term, which no market does.

Balance over time

Hover or drag for values

BalanceContributed

Year by year

Year	You	Employer	Interest	Balance
1	₹72,000	₹22,020	₹3,878	₹97,898
2	₹75,600	₹23,121	₹12,149	₹2,08,768
3	₹79,380	₹24,277	₹21,499	₹3,33,924
4	₹83,349	₹25,491	₹32,038	₹4,74,803
5	₹87,516	₹26,765	₹43,885	₹6,32,970
6	₹91,892	₹28,104	₹57,170	₹8,10,136
7	₹96,487	₹29,509	₹72,034	₹10,08,165
8	₹1,01,311	₹30,984	₹88,631	₹12,29,092
9	₹1,06,377	₹32,534	₹1,07,130	₹14,75,132
10	₹1,11,696	₹34,160	₹1,27,715	₹17,48,703
11	₹1,17,280	₹35,868	₹1,50,585	₹20,52,437
12	₹1,23,144	₹37,662	₹1,75,959	₹23,89,202

Method and background

This is what the calculation gives for the numbers you entered. It is an estimate, not advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond those numbers. Rules for India change on a published schedule; the effective date is shown on every rule-based tool.

How this is calculated

A voluntary contribution rides on the same account at the same interest rate, with one difference that matters: the employer matches only the statutory twelve percent, so nothing above it is matched. That makes VPF a plain fixed-income investment at the declared rate rather than a doubling of your money, and worth comparing against what else that rupee could do. Raise the contribution rate above twelve to see the effect.

each year: opening balance + contributions + interest on the average balance

B: Balance (currency)
C: Year's contributions (currency)
r: Interest rate (decimal)

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

contributing twenty percent instead of twelve

Monthly basic pay plus dearness allowance: ₹50,000
Your contribution rate: 20%
Interest rate credited: 8.25%
Years until you withdraw: 20
Salary growth a year: 5%
Balance already in the fund: ₹0

Fund at withdrawal₹1,01,38,794

Structural: the employer share is unchanged while the employee share rises

Open this example

one year at twenty percent

Monthly basic pay plus dearness allowance: ₹50,000
Your contribution rate: 20%
Interest rate credited: 8.25%
Years until you withdraw: 1
Salary growth a year: 0%
Balance already in the fund: ₹0

Fund at withdrawal₹1,47,878

20% of 6,00,000, worked by hand

Open this example

the statutory rate matches the EPF case exactly

Monthly basic pay plus dearness allowance: ₹50,000
Your contribution rate: 12%
Interest rate credited: 8.25%
Years until you withdraw: 1
Salary growth a year: 0%
Balance already in the fund: ₹0

Fund at withdrawal₹97,898

boundary: VPF at twelve percent is just EPF

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

Contributions are on full basic pay rather than restricted to the statutory wage ceiling.
The interest rate holds for the whole period, which it does not; it is declared annually.
No withdrawals or loans against the balance.

What it deliberately does not model

The pension scheme benefit itself is a separate calculation with its own formula and is not valued here.
Voluntary contributions above twelve percent belong on the VPF calculator.
Taxation of interest on contributions above the annual threshold is not applied.
Interest on contributions above the annual threshold is taxable, which this does not apply.

Sources

EPFO. Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (primary government)

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · India · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

Why is my employer's contribution to the fund lower than mine?: Because most of it is diverted. Of the employer's twelve percent, 8.33% goes to the Employees Pension Scheme and only about 3.67% reaches your provident fund balance. Your own twelve percent goes in whole.
Is the interest rate fixed?: No. It is declared each year and has drifted down over the past two decades. Assuming today's rate for a thirty-year career is optimistic.