The Employee Provident Fund (EPF), besides being one of the trusted investment scheme for salaried employees, comes with various other benefits for them. One such benefit comes under the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) scheme, on availing which, Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) account holders become eligible for assured life insurance benefits of up to ₹7 lakh, without having to pay any amount as premium. 

Besides insurance-related benefits, the EDLI scheme, which is available to every Provident Fund (PF) account holder, provides other benefits as well:

(1.) Maximum assured insurance benefits: Under this, the legal heir of a PF account holder will get up to ₹7 lakh in the event of the demise of the EPF member in service. It was in April 2021 when the cap was hiked from ₹6 lakh to the current 7 lakh.

(2.) Minimum assured benefits: These amount to ₹2.5 lakh if the employee was in continuous service in the 12 months prior to their death.

(3.) Free benefits: As stated earlier, employees are not required to pay a premium to avail benefits under the EDLI scheme. It is the employer who pays the premium, which amounts to 0.50 per cent of the monthly wages with a ceiling of ₹15,000.

(4.) Auto-enrolment: EPFO subscribers need not register separately to avail the EDLI scheme. Instead, they become eligible for it upon becoming members or subscribers of the EPFO.

(5.) Direct Bank Transfer: The benefits under this plan are linked directly to the nominee’s bank account, or that of the employee’s legal heir. In case of the EPF account holder’s demise, these are transferred directly to the linked bank account.