EPFO adds 1.61 mn members in February

New Delhi: The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added 1.61 million net members in February, down from 1.79 million added in January, according to provisional payroll data released by the labour and employment ministry on Monday.

The net figure includes those who left and rejoined. The data showed that 739,000 new members, including 208,000 women, joined the EPFO during the month.

A significant portion of the new members, representing 57.71% of the total additions, were aged 18-25.

The payroll data revealed that 1.32 million former EPFO members rejoined in February, marking an 11.85% annual increase in rejoining members.

"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 safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection," the labour ministry said.

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The net female payroll addition in February was around 337,000, reflecting a strong 9.23% year-on-year growth, highlighting a shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce, the ministry added.

Among the states, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Haryana, Delhi, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh individually added more than 5% of the total net payroll during February.

"State-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that the top five states/ UTs constitute around 59.75% of net payroll addition, adding a total of around 962,000 net payroll during the month," the labour ministry said.

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"Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.90% of net payroll during the month," it added.

The ministry's industry-wise data showed month-on-month growth in net payroll additions across sectors such as fish processing, non-vegetarian food preservation, societies and clubs, cleaning services, computer manufacturing and servicing, and aircraft or airline establishments.

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Of the total net payroll increase, about 41.72% was from expert services, including manpower suppliers, contractors, security services, and other miscellaneous activities.