EPFO sees over 4% decline in new member additions, falls to 1.09 crore in 2023-24: MoSPI
The Centre as well as states had imposed lockdown restriction in 2020 and 2021 to curb the spread of deadly coronavirus in the country, which had hit economic activities as well as employment.
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) saw a decline of over 4 percent in gross new subscriber additions, with the total falling to 1.09 crore in 2023-24 compared to the previous year, according to a report by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
The report titled 'Payroll Reporting in India: An Employment Perspective – January to April, 2024' revealed that EPFO recorded a gross addition of 1,09,93,119 new members in 2023-24, down from 1,14,98,453 in 2022-23.
The pandemic significantly impacted the gross addition of new members, with numbers dropping from 1,10,40,683 in 2019-20 to 85,48,898 in 2020-21. However, the figures rebounded to 1,08,65,063 in 2021-22.
Lockdown restrictions imposed by the Centre and states in 2020 and 2021 to control the spread of COVID-19 adversely affected economic activities and employment.
Over the past five fiscal years up to 2023-24, the gross addition of new EPFO members has not returned to pre-pandemic levels seen in 2018-19. That year, the gross addition of new members was 1,39,44,349.
Since April 2018, the ministry has been publishing employment-related statistics in the formal sector, covering the period from September 2017 onwards. This data includes the number of subscribers to three major schemes: Employees' Provident Fund (EPF), Employees' State Insurance (ESI), and the National Pension Scheme (NPS).
The report notes that subscriber numbers are sourced from various platforms, leading to potential overlaps, meaning the estimates from different sources are not cumulative.
The report also indicated a slight dip in the gross addition of members to the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC), which decreased to 1,67,60,672 in 2023-24 from 1,67,73,023 in 2022-23.
However, the National Pension Scheme (NPS) saw an increase in new subscriber additions, rising to 9,37,020 in 2023-24 from 8,24,735 in the previous fiscal year.
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