EPFO’s latest provisional payroll data released on Monday highlighted that the provident fund organisation added 17.21 lakh net subscribers in the month of September.

The addition was 21,475 more than the subscribers who joined the social security scheme EPF (Employees’ Provident Fund) in August. The year-on-year comparison of payroll data reflects an increase of 38,262 net members over the previous year of September, 2022.

The data indicates that around 8.92 lakh new members have enrolled during September, 2023. Among the newly joined members, the age-group of 18-25 years constitutes 58.92 per cent of total new members added during the month, a statement said.

This demonstrates that majority of the members joining the organised sector workforce of the country are youth, who are mostly first-time job seekers.

In the monthly payroll data, the count of members joining EPFO (Employees Provident Fund Organisation) for the first time through Aadhaar validated Universal Account Number (UAN), existing members exiting from coverage of EPFO and those who exit but re-join as members, is taken to arrive at net monthly payroll.

The payroll data shows that approximately 11.93 lakh members exited, but rejoined EPFO in September. 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, extending their social security protection.

As compared to the previous month, the number of exits has decreased by 12.17 per cent with 3.64 lakh exits in the month of September, 2023. The data also highlights that the number of members exiting EPFO has been declining since June, 2023.

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data represents that out of the total 8.92 lakh new members added during the month, around 2.26 lakh are women, joining EPFO for the first time. Also, the net female member addition during the month stood at around 3.30 lakh, it said.

The state-wise analysis of payroll data denotes that net member addition is highest in the five states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat and Haryana.

These states constitute around 57.42 per cent of net member addition, adding that a total of 9.88 lakh members during the month. Of all the states, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.42 per cent of net members during the month.

The month-on-month comparison of industry-wise data displays significant growth in the members working in establishments engaged in the sugar industry, courier services, iron and steel, hospitals, travel agencies, among others.

Of the total net membership, around 41.46 per cent addition is from expert services (consisting of manpower suppliers, normal contractors, security services, miscellaneous activities).

From April-2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September, 2017 onwards. The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee record is a continuous process. The previous data hence gets updated every month, the statement added.