The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has released provisional payroll data for February 2023. The data shows that Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, and Delhi are the top five states in net member addition, accounting for 58.62% of total net member addition during the month. Maharashtra has added the most net members, with 20.90%, followed by Tamil Nadu with 11.92%. The data also shows that 13.96 lakh net members were added in February 2023.
The data also includes gender-wise analysis, which shows that 2.78 lakh female members were added during the same period, accounting for 19.93% of the net member addition for the month. Of these, 1.89 lakh are new joinees, which is about 25.65% of all new joinees. This indicates a growing trend of women’s participation in the organised workforce.
Out of the 13.96 lakh members added in February 2023, around 7.38 lakh are new members who have joined EPFO for the first time. The highest enrolment is registered in the age group of 18-21 years, with 2.17 lakh members, followed by the age group of 22-25 years, with 1.91 lakh members. The data also shows that approximately 10.15 lakh members re-joined EPFO membership which rose by 8.59% compared to last year.
This rejoining of EPFO membership indicates that members have switched jobs and re-joined establishments covered under EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for a final settlement. By doing so, they are extending their social security protection, according to the EPFO.
