EPFO adds 17.20 lakh Net Members during month of April 2023

EPFO’s provisional payroll data released on 20th June, 2023 indicates significant increase on several key parameters. It reveals that EPFO has added 17.20 lakh net members in the month of April, 2023 as compared to the net addition of 13.40 lakh during the previous month of March, 2023. Year-on-year, an increasing trend has been observed in net payroll addition for the month of April, 2023.

Out of the 17.20 lakh new members registered throughout the month, about 8.47 lakh are now covered by EPFO’s social security system for the first time. The age group of 18-25 years accounts for 54.15% of all new members acquired during the month. The age range of 18-25 years suggests that the bulk of participants joining the country’s organised sector employment are first-time job searchers.

The data also reveals an increase in the number of re-joinees, with 12.50 lakh members leaving but rejoining EPFO in March 2023, compared to 10.09 lakh in the previous month. These are the members who would have changed occupations and re-joined EPFO-covered enterprises, opting to transfer their accumulations rather than seeking for final settlement, so prolonging their social security protection.

In April 2023, the number of departures declined by 11.67% as compared to the previous month, with 3.77 lakh exits. Exits have also decreased year on year in April 2023, according to a year-on-year comparison.

According to a gender-based study of payroll data, the number of net female members enrolled in April 2023 was 3.48 lakh, up from 2.57 lakh in March 2023. Around 2.25 lakh of the 8.47 lakh new members joined throughout the month are new female members joining EPFO for the first time. Female members made up around 26.61% of all new enrollments during the month, marking the largest female involvement among new members in the prior six months.

A payroll study throughout India reveals that the majority of states are experiencing a month-on-month increase in net member addition. The top five states generating roughly 59.20% of net member addition during the month are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Delhi.

A month-to-month comparison of industry statistics reveals strong increase in the industrial and information technology sectors. Among the top ten industries, businesses involved in manufacturing, marketing-servicing, and computer use have seen the most development. Following that were electrical, mechanical, or general engineering items, as well as trading-commercial organisations. Other prominent businesses on the rise include garment manufacturing, textiles, building and construction, and professional services.

The above payroll data is tentative since data creation is an ongoing endeavour, just as updating personnel records is. As a result, past data is updated once a month. EPFO has begun publishing payroll statistics for the period September 2017 to April 2018 from April 2018.

In monthly payroll statistics, the count of members joining EPFO for the first time via Aadhaar validated Universal Account Number (UAN), current members leaving EPFO coverage, and those who left but rejoined as members is used to calculate net monthly payroll.

EPFO is the country’s primary organisation in charge of delivering social security benefits to the organized/semi-organized sector employees covered under the EPF & MP Act of 1952.