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.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police‘s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) booked SpiceJet‘s managing director and four other officials for allegedly failing to credit the deducted 12 per cent of employees’ share in their Provident Fund (PF) account worth Rs 65 crore, as reported by news agency PTI citing officials.
“Managing director Ajay Singh and director Shiwani Singh, independent director Anurag Bhargava and two other officials Ajay Chhotelal Aggarwal and Manoj Kumar are responsible persons for the conduct of the business of the establishment as per Ownership Declaration Form 5A submitted to EPFO,” according to the FIR copy accessed by PTI.
All the officials were booked last month on September 16 under Section 409 (Criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC based on a complaint by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on September 16. The investigation is currently ongoing, as stated by an EOW officer.
The FIR states that at least 12 per cent of employees’ share of PF dues is payable to EPFO under Section 6 of the EPF and MP Act, 1952, and should be remitted to the respective PF accounts of employees/pension fund maintained by the EPFO.
It further mentions that the contribution of employees, amounting to Rs 65,70,62,540 from June 2024 to July 2024, has not been remitted for crediting in the accounts of the employees as Pension Fund contribution within the mandatory 15 days of the close of every month, which is in violation of the requirement of para 38 (1) of EPF scheme 1952 by the aforementioned persons.
It also said that the establishment representative admitted to having made the said deduction during quasi-judicial proceedings (7A inquiry) before the competent assessing officer – RPFC-I and that the employer has cheated the employees and misappropriated the fund, thus committing an offence under sections 316 and 318 of BNS.
However, a company spokesperson said that the complaint was filed before it raised fund via QIP and has cleared all dues after that.
“The case was filed before the company raised fresh funds through the Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP). Since then, the airline has cleared all pending salary and GST dues and made significant progress by depositing ten months of PF dues. The process of clearing the remaining dues is ongoing. Additionally, we have successfully reached settlements with multiple lessors. SpiceJet remains fully aligned with the financial and operational strategy outlined in the QIP” said the spokesperson in a statement.
The airline which has more than 10,000 people deducted 12 per cent of employees’ share of PF dues from their salaries (PF wages) during June 2022 to July 2024, which was to be remitted by August 15, 2024.