The existing limit of the Employees Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) has been raised by the government from Rs 60,000 to Rs 1 lakh.

In the newly modified Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance (Amendment) Scheme, 2010, the benefits will be for employees of both the public and private sector, according to the government’s notification.

If a member of the EPFO or a provident fund exempted under Section 17 dies, the persons entitled to receive the PF amount will get an additional amount.

Earlier, an EPFO subscriber or member of a provident fund approved under Section 17 would get an insurance cover up to Rs 60,000, in case he/she died.

Now, the amount will be equal to the average balance in the employee’s PF account in the last 12 months. But the amount shouldn’t be more than Rs 50,000. However, if the amount exceeds Rs 50,000, the relative will be paid 40 per cent of the excess amount, not exceeding Rs 1 lakh. Though, the insurance amount would fall if the average balance is higher.

Niraj Jain, Chief Principal Officer, InsuranceMall explained, “Under section 17, there is a EPFO or a provident fund approved scheme in which the employer and government contribute 0.5 per cent. A company can either these guidelines or have their own scheme. But if they wanna have their own, they have to make better than the present one.”