EPFO adds 1.85 million net members in August

New Delhi: The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has made a net addition of 1.85 million members in August, an increase of 9.07% year-on-year (YoY).

The ministry of labour and employment said that EPFO enrolled around 930,000 new members in August, with an increase of 0.48% in the new members from August 2023.

The net figure is made up of both new members, and those who have rejoined after leaving work.

Surge in membership

“This surge in new memberships can be attributed to growing employment opportunities, increased awareness of employee benefits, and EPFO ‘s successful outreach programs,” said the statement.

The data showed that people from the 18-25 age group constituted about 59.26% of the total new members added in August 2024. Further, the net payroll data for the age group 18-25 for August 2024 is about 806,000.

“This is in consonance with the earlier trend which indicates that most individuals joining the organized workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers,” the ministry said.

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data reveals that out of the new members added during the month under review, around 253,000 are new female members, indicating a growth of 3.75% in the addition of new female members in August 2023. Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 379,000, with 10.41% year-on-year growth. The surge in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce.

The payroll data further highlighted that around 1.35 million members exited and subsequently rejoined EPFO. This figure depicts year-over-year growth of 14.03% compared to August 2023.

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.

In terms of state-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that net member addition in the top five states or union territories constitutes around 59.17% of net member addition, adding a total around 1.09 million net members during the month. Of the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.59% of net members during the month. Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh individually added more than 5% of the total net members during August.