EPFO Adds 14.6 Lakh New Members In December 2021

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) gained 14.6 lakh net subscribers in December 2021, a rise of 16.4% over the same month the previous year.

EPFO's provisional payroll data, issued on Sunday, indicated that in December 2020, the retirement fund organization gained 12.54 lakh, net subscribers. According to a statement from the labor ministry, the net subscriber acquisition in December 2021 grew by 19.98% over the previous month of November 2021.

"#EPFO adds 14.60 lakh net subscribers in December 2021 with 9.11 lakh New Members 46.89% from 18-25 age group." tweeted the EPFO on February 2022.

The net subscriber increase for November 2021 was reduced from 13.95 lakh provisional estimates reported in January 2022 to 12.17 lakh. 9.11 lakh new members were enrolled for the first time under the EPF and MP Act, 1952, out of the total 14.60 lakh net subscribers acquired in December 2021.
Approximately 5.49 lakh net subscribers left EPFO but returned by transferring their PF accumulations from before current PF accounts rather than opting for final withdrawal. It also said that the number of EPFO members leaving has been on the decline since July 2021.

According to the payroll data, in December 2021, the age group of 22-25 years had the highest number of net enrolments with 3.87 lakh new enrolments. The 18-21 age bracket also had a robust increase of roughly 2.97 lakh net enrolments.

In December 2021, the 18-25 age group accounted for roughly 46.89% of all net subscriber increases. This shows that a substantial proportion of first-time job searchers are entering the organized sector employment.

The states with the most net additions were Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka, which gained over 8.97 lakh subscribers during the month, accounting for nearly 61.44 percent of total net payroll additions across all age categories, according to the report.