EPFO adds 14.6 lakh subscribers in December 2021

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Retirement fund body EPFO added 14.6 lakh subscribers on a net basis in December 2021, an increase of 16.4 percent compared to the year-ago period, according to the latest payroll data.

The provisional payroll data of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) released on Sunday showed that the EPFO had added 12.54 lakh net subscribers during December 2020.

The net subscriber addition in December has increased by 19.98 percent as compared to the previous month of November 2021, a labour ministry statement said. The net subscriber addition in November 2021 was revised downwards to 12.17 lakh from 13.95 lakh provisional estimates released in January 2022.

Of the total 14.60 lakh net subscribers added in December 2021, 9.11 lakh new members have been enrolled under EPF & MP Act, 1952 for the first time. Approximately 5.49 lakh net subscribers exited, but rejoined EPFO by opting to continue their membership with EPFO by transferring their PF accumulations from previous to present PF account instead of opting for final withdrawal. Further, it stated that the number of members exiting EPFO has been on a declining trend since July 2021.

According to the data, the age group of 22-25 years registered the highest number of net enrolments with 3.87 lakh additions during December 2021. The age group of 18-21 also registered a healthy addition of around 2.97 lakh net enrolments. The age groups of 18-25 years have contributed around 46.89 percent of total net subscriber additions in December 2021. This indicates that many first-time job seekers are joining the organised sector workforce in large numbers.

A state-wise comparison of payroll figures highlighted that the establishments covered in the states of Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka are in lead by adding approximately 8.97 lakh subscribers during the month, which is around 61.44 percent of total net payroll addition across all age groups. Gender-wise analysis indicated that net female payroll addition during the month is approximately 3 lakh.

The share of female enrolment is approximately 20.52 percent of the total net subscribers' addition during the month of December 2021. Industry-wise payroll data indicated that the expert services category (consisting of manpower agencies, private security agencies, and small contractors, etc.) constitutes 40.24 percent of total subscriber addition during the month.

In addition, a growing trend in net payroll additions has been noted in industries like the building and construction industry, textiles, restaurants, iron, and steel, etc. The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updation of employee record is a continuous process, the ministry noted.

The previous data hence gets updated every month. From the month of May-2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period December 2017 onwards, it stated. The EPFO provides provident fund, pension benefits to the members on their retirement and family pension and insurance benefits to their families in case of the untimely death of the member.

The EPFO is the country's principal organization responsible for providing social security benefits to the organized/semi-organized sector workforce covered under the statute of EPF & MP Act, 1952.