 "EPFO")
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added 1.69 million net members in August 2023, according to provisional payroll data released on Friday. Out of this, around 926,000 are new members who joined the EPFO in the month of August, with 58.36 per cent of them belonging to the age group of 18-25 years. This is indicative of a significant influx of youth entering the organised sector workforce.
The enrollment in August is slightly less than the previous month, when the EPFO onboarded 1.87 million net members, the highest number of enrollment recorded by the organisation in a month. In July 2023, members between the ages of 18-25 made up 58.45 per cent of new members.
During August, 3,210 establishments extended social security cover to their employees by remitting their first electronic challan cum return (ECR).
Additionally, approximately 1.18 million members exited and rejoined EPFO, marking a 10.13 per cent increase year on year. These members opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement, thereby extending their social security protection. The data also revealed a continuous decline in members leaving EPFO in the last two months.
Gender-wise analysis showed that out of 926,000 new members, 244,000 were female and 682,000 male. The report added that there was an addition of 343,000 net female members during the month.
Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, and Gujarat were the top five states in terms of net member addition. They enrolled 996,000 out of the 1.69 million members, accounting for 58.64 per cent of the net members added.
When analysing the industry-wise data pan India, trading-commercial establishments, building & construction, engineer-engineering contractors, and textiles sectors had the highest membership. Expert services, including manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, and miscellaneous activities, contributed to around 39.87 per cent of the total net membership added.
