EPFO alert! PF regulator adds 1.39 crore subscribers in last two financial years

Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has added 1.39 crore subscribers in the last two financial years causing the subscriber base to rise from 61.12 lakh to 78.58 lakh in the financial years FY19 and FY20.

EPFO Alert: Net addition to the subscriber base rose from 61.12 lakh added in 2018-19 to 78.58 lakh in 2019-20, registering a 28 per cent growth. Photo: Pixabay/Twitter

EPFO Alert: The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has added 1.39 crore subscribers in the last two financial years causing the subscriber base to rise from 61.12 lakh to 78.58 lakh in the financial years FY19 and FY20. Recently published provisional payroll data by EPFO highlights the ever growing trend of increasing subscriber base for the Provident Fund (PF) regulator, since the collation of payroll data from September 2017. The payroll data presents the consolidated annual figures for 2018-19 and 2019-20. Net addition to the subscriber base rose from 61.12 lakh added in 2018-19 to 78.58 lakh in 2019-20, registering a 28 per cent growth. The data published comprises all the new members who have joined during the month and whose contribution is received.

The subscriber growth is on account of lower exits and higher rejoinings by exited members. The tax free returns of 8.5 per cent for 2019-20, which is one of the highest among other social security instruments and fixed deposits, has helped EPFO reduce its exits for 2019-20 by around 10% as compared with previous year. Moreover, there has been a robust increase of around 75 per cent in terms of rejoining by the members who exited - from 43.78 lakh in 2018-19 to 78.15 lakh in 2019-20.

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The auto-transfer facility which enables hassle free transfer of PF balance from the old account to the new account on change of job has played a big role in ensuring continuity of membership in many cases.

Age wise analysis during 2019-20 indicates that for the age group 26-28, 29-35 and beyond 35 the net enrolment has increased by more than 50 per cent compared to previous year. Rapid improvement in quality of service delivery in online mode has attracted the workforce of the country towards services of EPFO. Moreover, PF accumulation is no longer looked at as locked-in money. With EPFO settling COVID-19 advances within 3 days, PF accumulations are now seen as liquid assets that can timely meet the needs of the subscribers during crisis. Similarly, PF advances can be availed in case of unemployment, marriage expense, higher education, housing and medical treatment.

Further, enrolment of female workers has gone up by around 22 per cent during 2019-20 compared to previous years indicating greater female participation in the formal workforce.

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