EPFO adds 1.72 million members in September

New Delhi: Retirement fund body, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), added a net 1.72 million members in September, slightly higher than a year ago, according to payroll data released on Monday.

The data showed an addition of 892,000 new members, including 226,000 women into the EPFO. On a yearly basis, the payroll data reflects an increase of 38,262 net members over September 2022.

A significant portion of the new members, representing 58.92%, were young employees between the ages of 18 and 25, according to the labour ministry.

Additionally, the payroll data showed that around 1.19 million members had exited the EPFO, only to re-register with the organisation within the same month.

"These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, extending their social security protection. The data also highlights that the number of members exiting EPFO has been declining since June 2023," it added.

Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Haryana were the top five states in terms of net member additions during September. These states together enrolled 988,000 members during the month, which constitute around 57.42% of net addition.

"Month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data displays significant growth in the members working in establishments engaged in the sugar industry, courier services, iron and steel, hospitals, travel agencies etc.," the statement said.

"Of the total net membership, around 41.46% addition is from expert services (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities etc.)," it added.