Employees Provident Fund Organisation adds 15.41 lakh net subscribers in September

Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 21

In a pointer to the continuing recovery of the country's economy from Covid pandemic, more than 15 lakh net subscribers enrolled themselves with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in September 2021, which is an addition of about two lakh over the the preceding month of August.

The latest payroll data released by EPFO highlights that it added around 15.41 lakh net subscribers in September in comparison to the figure of 13.6 lakh in August.  

Of the total 15.41 lakh net subscribers, around 8.95 lakh new members have been registered under the provisions of the Employees' Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act (EPF and MP Act) for the first time.

Around 6.46 lakh net subscribers exited but rejoined EPFO by changing jobs within the establishments covered under the purview of the EPF and MP Act, thereby opting to continue their membership with EPFO by transferring their funds instead of opting for final withdrawal.

Age-wise comparison of payroll data shows that the age-group of 22-25 has registered highest number of net enrolments with 4.12 lakh additions during September.

This is followed by age-group of 18-21 with around 3.18 lakh net enrolments.

A Labour Ministry functionary said this was a signpost that many first-time job seekers are joining organised sector workforce in large numbers and have contributed around 47.39 per cent of total net subscriber additions in September.

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

Gender-wise analysis indicates that the net share of female enrolment during the month is around 3.27 lakh. 

Month-on-month comparison shows that the net addition of female subscribers has increased roughly by 0.60 lakh in the month of September in comparison to the previous month of August when 2.67 lakh net subscribers were added into the payroll. This is 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) constitutes 41.22 per cent of total subscriber addition 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.