EPFO Adds 15.41 Lakh Net Subscribers In September, Up 13% From August

Retirement fund body EPFO net added 15.41 lakh subscribers in September 2021, reflecting a growing trend in net payroll additions post the second wave of the pandemic. "The provisional payroll data of EPFO released today highlights that the EPFO has added around 15.41 lakh net subscribers during the month of September 2021," a statement by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) said on Saturday.

For the month of September, the net subscriber addition has increased by 1.81 lakh (or over 13 per cent) as compared to the previous month of August 2021 when it was 13.60 lakh. The data reflects a growing trend in net payroll for the first six months of the current financial year except in May, when the nation was reeling under the second wave of COVID-19. Many states had imposed local lockdowns during the period which hit economic activities.

The EPFO had net added 8,06,765 subscribers in April, which decreased to 5,62,216 in May this year. The net enrolments rose to 9,71,244 in June and further to 12,30,696 in July. The total net enrolments with the EPFO during first half of this fiscal (April to September 2021) stood at 64.72 lakh. The net new enrolments were 77.08 lakh in full fiscal 2020-21 and 78.58 lakh in 2019-20.

The EPFO stated that out of the total 15.41 lakh net subscribers added in September, around 8.95 lakh new members have been registered under the provisions of the EPF & MP Act, 1952 for the first time.

Around 6.46 lakh subscribers exited but rejoined EPFO by changing jobs within the establishments covered under the Employees'' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act (EPF & MP Act), 1952.

These members opted to continue their membership with EPFO by transferring their funds instead of going for final withdrawal. Age-wise comparison of payroll data shows that the age-group of 22-25 years registered the highest number of net enrolments at 4.12 lakh during September 2021.

This was followed by 18-21 years with around 3.18 lakh net enrolments. This indicates that many first-time job seekers are joining organised sector workforce in large numbers. They have contributed around 47.39 per cent of total net subscriber additions in September.

State-wise comparison highlights that the establishments covered in Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were in lead by adding approximately 9.41 lakh subscribers during the month, or around 61 per cent of the total net payroll addition across all age groups.

Gender-wise analysis shows that the net share of female enrolment during the month was around 3.27 lakh. The net addition of female subscribers increased roughly by 0.60 lakh in September in comparison to the previous month of August 2021, when 2.67 lakh net subscribers were added into the payroll. This was largely due to lower female member exits during the month.

Industry-wise payroll data indicates that ''expert services'' category (consisting of manpower agencies, private security agencies and small contractors etc) constituted 41.22 per cent of total subscriber additions during the month.

Apart from this, growing trend in net payroll additions has been noted in industries like trading, commercial establishments, engineering products, building and construction, textiles, garment making, hospitals and financing establishments.

The payroll data is provisional as updation of employee records is a continuous process. The previous data hence gets updated every month. From the month of May 2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September 2017 onwards. The EPFO is a social security organisation responsible for providing a number of social security benefits to the members covered under the EPF & MP Act, 1952.