EPFO adds 16.26 lakh net members in November last year

NEW DELHI: The provisional payroll data of Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) released on Thursday highlights that EPFO has added 16.26 lakh net members in November last year.

The data indicates an increase of 25.67 per cent net additions compared to previous month in October, 2022. Year-on-year comparison of payroll data reflects an increase of 16.50 per cent in net membership addition in November, 2022 as compared to the corresponding month during last year in 2021.

An official release said of the total 16.26 lakh members added during the month, around 8.99 lakh new members have come under the ambit of EPFO for the first time thus, showing that new members joining EPFO has increased by 1.71 lakh, from 7.28 lakh in October 2022.

Among the new members, highest enrolment is registered in the age-group of 18-21 years with 2.77 lakh members, followed by age-group of 22-25 years with 2.32 lakh members.

The age-group of 18-25 years constitutes 56.60 per cent of total of new members during the month. "This shows that first-time job seekers are largely joining organised sector workforce of the country," the release said.

The data also highlights that approximately 11.21 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 indicates that enrolment of net female members has been 3.19 lakh in November, 2022. As compared to previous month net female member addition has increased by around 0.56 lakh from 2.63 lakh in October 2022.

Year-on-year comparison of enrolment data shows a growth of 7.90% in net membership of females in organised workforce, in November 2022 comparing with the net female membership during previous year in November, 2021.

State-wise payroll figures highlight that month-on-month growing trend in net member addition is reflected in the states of Gujarat, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. These states together add 58.23 per cent of total net membership during the month.

Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20 per cent of overall member addition followed by the state of Tamil Nadu with 10.91 per cent during the month. The release said payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee record is a continuous process.

EPFO is India's principal organisation responsible for social security coverage to the organised sector workforce covered under the purview of Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.