3.18 lakh net new EPFO subscribers registered in May against one lakh in April

Despite the lockdown, around 1 lakh net new subscribers were added to social security schemes of EPFO in April 2020. The data published comprises of all the new members who have joined during the month and whose contribution is received.

The provisional payroll data published by EPFO on July 20 revealed that net new enrolments has started to make headway for most industry classifications in May, according to a Ministry of Labour & Employment statement here on Wednesday.

The subscriber base growth is on account of increased number of new subscribers, lower exits and higher rejoining by exited members. The new subscriber joining has increased roughly by 66 per cent to 2.79 lakh in May from 1.67 lakh in April.

In addition, the exits from EPFO subscriber base declined by nearly 20 per cent to 2.36 lakh in May from 2.97 lakh in April.

The number of members who exited and then rejoined, indicates switching of jobs by subscribers within the establishments covered by EPFO. This has also increased by approximately 19 per cent for May over the previous month, with more subscribers choosing to retain membership by transferring funds rather than opting for final settlement.

Category wise analysis of industry indicates that building & construction sector, hotels, transport; electrical, mechanical or general engineering products; education and textiles were adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in April.

Most of these sectors had registered negative enrolment for April. Expert services industry classification that added almost 4 lakh members every month during pre-Covid-19 period, had added only around 80,000 members during April.

Expert services predominantly consist of man power agencies, private security agencies and small contractors.
All these sectors, except education sector which is still affected due to lockdown continuing in schools and colleges, have shown positive growth for May.

Expert services have recorded a 125 per cent month on month growth by adding around 1.8 lakh net new subscribers in May 2020.

New establishments registered with EPFO also witnessed a growth of around 72 per cent with 8367 new establishments registering in May compared to 4853 establishments in April 2020. Similarly, in terms of establishments filing first ECR, the payroll data registered a growth of around 98 per cent for May as compared with April 2020.

EPFO manages social security funds of workers in the organised/semi organised sector in India and has more than 6 crore active members. The payroll data is provisional as updation of employee records is a continuous process and it gets updated in subsequent months.