EPFO adds 14.93 lakh members in December 2022

New Delhi: Retirement fund body EPFO added 14.93 lakh subscribers in December 2022, which was over 2 per cent higher compared to the net addition a year ago, the labour ministry said on Friday.

The provisional payroll data of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) released on Monday highlighted that the body has added 14.93 lakh members in the month of December, 2022.

Year-on-year comparison of payroll data reflects an increase of 32,635 in net membership addition in December, 2022 as compared to the corresponding month of 2021, the ministry said.

The labour ministry also released payroll data of Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) showing that 18.03 lakh new employees were added in December 2022.

Year-on-year comparison of ESIC payroll data reflects an increase of 14.52 lakh employees who paid contribution in ESI Scheme in December 2022 as compared to December 2021.

Out of 14.93 lakh members added by the EPFO during December 2022, around 8.02 lakh new members have come under the social security coverage of EPFO for the first time, it stated.

Among the newly joined members, highest enrolment is registered in the age-group of 18-21 years with 2.39 lakh members, followed by the age-group of 22-25 years with 2.08 lakh members, it stated.

The age-groups of 18-25 years constitutes 55.64 per cent of total new members during the month. This indicates that a majority of the members joining EPFO are first-time job seekers who are joining the organised sector workforce of the country.

The data also highlights that approximately 3.84 lakh members exited while 10.74 lakh members exited and 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 indicates that enrolment of new female members has been 2.05 lakh in December 2022.

The percentage of new female member among the total new joinees has increased from 25.14 per cent in November 2022 to 25.57 per cent during the current month. Social security cover under the Employees' Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 has been extended to these female members for the first time.

State-wise payroll figures highlight that top five states in terms of net member addition are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Karnataka, Haryana. These states together added 60.08 per cent of net new members during the month.

Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 24.82 per cent of overall member addition followed by Tamil Nadu with 10.08 per cent contribution during the month.

The classification of industry-wise payroll data indicates that 'expert services' (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities etc.) constitute 38.22 per cent of total member addition during the month.

Comparing industry-wise data with that of previous month, higher enrolments have been noticed in industries namely, 'financing establishment', 'beedi making', 'trading - commercial establishments', 'travel agencies' etc.

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. Since April 2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period from September 2017 onwards.

In monthly payroll data, the count of members joining EPFO for the first time through Aadhaar validated Universal Account Number (UAN), members exiting from coverage of EPFO and those who exited but re-joined as members, is taken to arrive at net monthly payroll.

As per the provisional payroll data, 18.03 lakh new employees have been added in December 2022.

Year-on-year comparison of payroll data reflects an increase of 14.52 lakh employees who paid contribution in ESI Scheme in December 2022 as compared to December 2021.

As per data, around 27,700 new establishments have been registered in the month of December 2022 under the Employees' State Insurance Corporation ensuring social security cover to their employees.

Of the total 18.03 lakh employees added during the month, the number of employees aged up to 25 years was 8.30 lakh.

It shows that the youth of the nation are getting good employment opportunities in the country.