EPFO Adds 14.12 Lakh Net Subscribers in February, 2022; 14% Increase From Last Year

EPFO’s provisional payroll data issued today shows that in February 2022, the organization added 14.12 lakh net members. When comparing payroll statistics from one month to the next, February 2022 shows a modest rise of 31,826 net subscriber additions compared to January 2022. When compared to the same month in the previous year, net subscriber additions in February 2022 increased by 1,74,314 over net subscriber additions in February 2021. Since October 2021, the net subscriber addition has been steadily increasing, demonstrating faith in the organization’s offerings.

Out of the total 14.12 lakh net subscribers added during the month, around 8.41 lakh new members have been enrolled under the social security cover of EPF & MP Act, 1952 for the first time. Approximately 5.71 lakh net subscribers exited but re-joined EPFO by transferring their accumulations from previous PF account to the current PF account, instead of claiming for final withdrawal.

Age-wise comparison of payroll data indicates that the age-group of 22-25 years has been on the forefront by registering the highest number of net enrolments of 3.70 lakh additions during February, 2022 followed by the age-group of 29-35 years with an addition of 2.98 lakh net subscribers during the month. In a nutshell, the age-group of 18-25 years constitutes around 45% of total net enrolments during the month. This age-group indicates that many first-time job seekers are joining the organized sector workforce in large numbers.

The enterprises covered in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, and Delhi are in the lead, with roughly 9.52 lakh net subscribers added during the month, accounting for around 67.49 percent of total net payroll addition across all age categories.

Gender-wise analysis indicates that net female payroll addition during the month is approximately 3.10 lakh during the month. Share of female enrolment is 21.95% of the total net subscriber addition during the month of February, 2022 with an increase of 22,402 net enrolments over the previous month of January 2022. This is largely due to lower female exits and higher new joining during the month. Also, net female subscribers have consistently increased since October, 2021 indicating increasing participation of women in the workforce.

According to industry-specific payroll data, ‘Expert Services’ (which includes manpower agencies, private security agencies, and small contractors, among other things) and ‘Trading-Commercial establishments’ account for 47.28 percent of all subscriber additions during the month. Furthermore, industries such as ‘Engineering Contractors,’ ‘Automobile Servicing,’ and ‘Building & Construction,’ among others, have seen an increase in net payroll addition.

The payroll data is provisional because data generation is a continual activity, as is the updating of personnel records. As a result, the preceding data is updated once a month. EPFO has been releasing payroll statistics for the months of September 2017 and forward since April 2018.

EPFO is the country’s primary institution in charge of providing social security benefits to workers in the organized and semi-organized sectors who are covered by the EPF and MP Act of 1952. EPFO has also expanded its services through mobile governance in light of the current state of mobile usage and smartphone prevalence. EPFO is also available on Twitter, WhatsApp, and Facebook to assist subscribers and address their difficulties, given the widespread usage of social media nowadays.