EPFO adds 14.86 lakh members in January with over 50 pc in 18-25 age group

Out of the total members added during the month, around 7.77 lakh new members have come under the ambit of EPFO for the first time.

Among the newly joined members, the highest enrolment is registered in the age group of 18-21 years with 2.26 lakh members, followed by the age group of 22-25 years with 2.06 lakh members.

The age groups of 18-25 years constitute 55.52 per cent of the total of new members during the month of January.

"This indicates that majority of the members are first-time job seekers joining the organised sector workforce of the country," an official release by Ministry of Labour and Employment said.

For the month of January 2023, it said 3.54 lakh members have exited the fold of EPFO. This is the lowest exit in the last four months.

"The data also highlights that approximately 10.62 lakh members re-joined EPFO membership. These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, extending their social security protection."

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data reflects that enrolment of net female members has been 2.87 lakhs in January, 2023, of which around 1.97 lakh female members are the new joinees. This means that 68.61 per cent of the net female members have come under the fold of EPFO for the first time.

State-wise, the month-on-month net addition of members is reflected in the states of Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Orissa, Delhi, and Himachal Pradesh.

In terms of net member addition, top five states are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Delhi. These states together added 58.85 per cent of net member addition during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 22.73 per cent of overall member addition followed by the state of Karnataka with 10.58 per cent during the month.

The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee record is a continuous process. The previous data hence gets updated every month.

EPFO is a social security organization responsible for providing social security benefits in the form of Provident, Pension and Insurance Funds to the organized workforce of the country. (ANI)