Retirement fund body EPFO has added 15.32 lakh subscribers in March 2022, over 19 percent more than 12.85 lakh enrolled in February this year.

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The provisional EPFO payroll data released on Friday highlighted that it has added 15.32 lakh net subscribers in March 2022, a labour ministry statement said.

According to the statement, a month-on-month comparison of payroll data shows an increase of 2.47 lakh net subscribers in March 2022 compared to the net additions during February 2022.

Of the total 15.32 lakh net subscribers added during the month (of March), around 9.68 lakh new members have been covered under the provisions of EPF & MP Act, 1952 for the first time.

The new member addition has increased by 81,327 in March 2022 as compared to the previous month. Approximately 5.64 lakh net subscribers exited but re-joined the establishments covered under the EPFO by transferring their funds from the previous PF account to the current account, instead of opting for final withdrawal.

Age-wise comparison of payroll data showed that the age group of 22-25 years has been on the forefront by registering the highest number of net enrolments, with 4.11 lakh additions during March 2022.

This is followed by the age group of 29-35 with an addition of 3.17 lakh net subscribers. The age group of 18-21 years also added around 2.93 lakh net subscribers during the month.

The age group of 18-25 years constitutes around 45.96 per cent of net subscribers addition during the month.

Age-wise payroll data also indicated that many first-time job seekers are joining the organised sector workforce in large numbers.

State-wise comparison of payroll figures highlighted that the establishments covered in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana and Delhi remain in lead by adding approximately 10.14 lakh net subscribers during the month, which is 66.18 per cent of the total net payroll addition across all age groups.

Gender-wise analysis showed that net female payroll addition is approximately 3.48 lakh during the month. The share of female enrolment is 22.70 per cent of total net subscribers addition during March 2022, with an increase of 65,224 net enrolments over February 2022.

The participation of women in the organised workforce is showing a positive trend from October 2021.

Industry-wise payroll data indicates that mainly two categories of 'expert services' (consisting of manpower agencies, private security agencies and small contractors etc) and 'trading-commercial establishments' constitute 47.76 per cent of total subscriber addition during the month.

A growing trend in net payroll addition has been noted in industries like textiles, heavy-fine chemicals, hotels & restaurants etc in March 2022 compared to net subscriber addition in February 2022.

The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise and the process of updating employee records is done on a regular basis.

Hence, the statement said that the previous data gets updated every month. Since April 2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data, covering the period September 2017 onwards.

EPFO is the country's principal organisation responsible for providing social security benefits to the organised/semi-organised sector workforce covered under the the purview of EPF & MP Act, 1952.

It offers members a myriad of services, which includes provident fund, insurance and pension both for members and their families.