Huge spike in EPF payrolls throws up debate on formalisation of the economy

While 2020-21 may not be the right year to compare with due to Covid, net payroll data in each of April, May and June exceeded average monthly figure since the data began to be compiled for Sept 2017

There was a net addition of 960,000 subscribers to the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) in April, 770,000 in May and 1.28 million in June in the current financial year. The addition, called the net payroll, was higher in each of these months than the average monthly figure of the previous year. However, many may point out that 2020-21 is not the right year to compare with, as it was a washout due to Covid. One may also note that the net payroll data in each of these months was higher than the average monthly figure since the data began to