A high-level committee has proposed the increase the wage ceiling under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO).
The proposed increase to Rs 21,000 per month from the existing Rs 15,000. The government may increase the threshold on the salary of employees.
The last EPFO wage ceiling revision was made in 2014. The wage revision was hiked to Rs 15,000 monthly from Rs 6,500 per month. The scheme currently covers only those organizations that have over 20 workers.
The proposed increase of the salary limit to Rs 21,000 per month has been endorsed by a committee. The committee has said that the government may implement the increase at a later date after discussion and thinking about this in detail.
A senior government official had said, In April the ad-hoc committee on EPFO coverage had agreed to enhance (waged under) EPF Act to align with ESI establishment.
The official further added that the committee has put forth that the new ceiling be implemented later, not immediately.
An expert committee will be formed shortly to revise the wage limit. The threshold is subject to revision of inflation and reviewed periodically for coverage under EPFO.
EPFO adds 16.82 lakh net members in Sept 2022
As per the provisional data released by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), 16.82 lakh net members have been added to EPFO in September 2022.
Compared to the same time last year, that is, September 2021, there is a rise of 9.14 per cent in net membership. Of the 16.82 lakh net members added, around 9.34 lakh are first-time members and about 2.94 lakh are youngsters in the age bracket of 18 to 21 years. Women make up 26.36 per cent of the new enrolments.
About 2,861 new establishments have begun to provide social security to their workforce according to the Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.
The net enrolment during September 2022 was 21.85 per cent more than the monthly average recorded in the previous fiscal.
With 2.54 lakh members, the second largest number of new members belong to the age group of 21-25 years.
The data clearly indicates that freshers / first-time workers are joining the organised sector workforce in big numbers.
That also means that most of the new jobs in the organised sector are being bagged by the youth of India.
Enrolment of net female members has been 3.50 lakh in September, 2022. Compared to the net female membership during the same time last year, there has been a growth of 6.98 per cent.
Month-on-month growing trend in net member addition was observed in various states including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa etc.
The states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi continue to remain in the lead by adding around 11.41 lakh net members during the month, which is 67.85 per cent of total net payroll addition across all age groups.
