EPFO adds 17.08 lakh net subscribers in April

Out of the total 17.08 lakh subscribers added during the month, around 9.23 lakh new members have come under the social security cover of EPF & MP Act, 1952 for the first time.

Approximately 7.85 lakh net subscribers exited and re-joined the establishments covered under EPFO by changing their jobs within the establishments covered by EPFO and opted to retain membership under the scheme, through the transfer of funds rather than coming for the final withdrawal of their PF accumulations.

"The payroll data reflects a declining trend of members exit during the last four months," the Ministry of Labour and Employment said in a statement.

A year-on-year comparison of payroll data shows an increase of 4.32 lakh net subscribers in April 2022 as compared to the net subscription in the month of April 2021.

Age-wise comparison of payroll data indicates that the age-group of 22-25 years has registered the highest number of net enrolments with 4.30 lakh additions during April 2022. This is followed by the age-group of 29-35 years with a healthy addition of 3.74 lakh net additions during the month.

These two age-groups constitute around 47.07 per cent net subscribers additions during the month. The age group of 29-35 years can be considered as experienced workers who have changed jobs for career growth and opted to be with EPFO.

EPFO is a social security organisation responsible for providing a number of benefits to the members covered under the statute of EPF & MP Act, 1952. It provides provident fund, pension benefits to the members on their retirement and family pension & insurance benefits to their families in case of untimely death of the member.

State-wise comparison of payroll figures highlights that the establishments covered in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi to remain in lead by adding approximately 11.60 lakh net subscribers during the month, which is 67.91 per cent of total net payroll addition across all age groups.

Gender-wise analysis indicates that net female payroll addition is approximately 3.65 lakh during the month. The share of female enrolment is 21.38 per cent of the total net subscriber addition during the month of April 2022 with an increase of 17,187 net enrolments over the previous month of March 2022. The payroll data highlights net enrollment of female workforce in the organized sector has shown a growing trend for the last six months.

The classification of industry-wise payroll data indicates that mainly two categories i.e. 'expert services' (consisting of manpower agencies, private security agencies and small contractors etc.) and 'Trading-Commercial establishments' constitute 48.25 per cent of total subscriber addition during the month.

Apart from this, a growing trend has been noted in other industries like 'Electrical, Mechanical or general engineering products', 'Marketing servicing, usage of computers', 'Building & Construction industry', 'Textile', 'Garment making', 'Financial establishments', 'Hospitals' and 'Schools' during the month.

The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updation of employee record is a continuous process. The previous data hence gets updated every month. From the month of April 2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September 2017 onwards. (ANI)