The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) added 13.40 lakh net members in March this year, according to data from the Department of Labor and Employment. February added 13.96 lakh members to EPFO ​​while January added 14.86 lakh subscribers under EPFO.

Notably, the body added about 1.39 million net members in FY23, an increase of 13.22% compared to FY22, which added about 1.22 million net members.

The Employee’s Pension Scheme (EPS) was introduced in 1995. Administered by the EPFO, the scheme grants a pension to workers upon reaching the age of 58. Both the employee and the employer pay 12% of the employee’s base salary and Dearness Allowance (DA) to the EPF. While the employee’s entire share goes to the EPF, the employer’s contribution goes to the EPS at a rate of 8.33%.

Of the 13.40 lakh members added during the month, around 7.58 lakh new members fell under EPFO’s purview for the first time. Among newly joined members, the highest enrollment is recorded in the 18-21 age group with 2.35 lakh members, followed by the 22-25 age group with 1.94 lakh members. The 18-25 age group accounts for 56.60% of all new members added during the month.

The data also shows that about 10.09 lakh members have rejoined EPFO ​​membership. These members changed jobs and rejoined entities covered by EPFO ​​and chose to transfer savings rather than seek a definitive settlement, thereby expanding their social security coverage.

On a gender basis, female net membership was 2.57 lakh in March 2023, which is approximately 19.21% of the net membership increase for that month. Of these, 1.91 million female members are new members. This corresponds to around 25.16% of all new entries. As of February, there were a net 2.78 female members enrolled in EPFO, with 1.89 female members newly joining.

The nationwide wages and salaries data shows that the month-to-month growing trend is reflected in the net growth rate of members in the states of Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Mizoram, etc. The top 5 states are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana and Gujarat. These states together account for 58.68% of the net membership growth for the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra leads the way with a 20.63% increase in net membership, followed by the state of Tamil Nadu with 10.83% for the month.

In March, the Employees Provident Fund’s Central Board of Trustees (CBT) proposed an interest rate of 8.15% on EPF accumulations in members’ accounts for fiscal year 2022-23. Last year, the EPFO ​​cut rates on EPFs from 8.5% in 2020-21 to a four-decade low of 8.1%.

Last month, EPFO ​​extended the deadline for applications for higher wage pensions to June 26, 2023. The earlier deadline was May 3, 2023. According to the ministry, the deadline has been extended to give pensioners/members ample opportunity , to alleviate any difficulties they are facing.