EPFO added just 1.33 lakh net subscribers in April

Formal employment generation got hit during the first month of nationwide lockdown with the retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation adding mere 1.33 lakh net subscribers in April. The net additions under the Employees State Insurance Corporation stood at 2,41,422 and that under the National Pension Scheme stood at 64,647, said the ministry of statistics and programme implementation in its monthly report on Thursday.

April was the first month of the nationwide lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 as a result of which all industries and establishments were shut down during this period that got extended to May and partially into June, witnessing even loss of jobs for millions of workers though largely in the unorganised sector.

However, these numbers are subject to change as the lower numbers can be attributed to extended timelines for filing returns during the lockdown period. “In view of the national lockdown consequent to the COVID-19 pandemic, several establishments were closed and which may have had implications on the reporting. The reported figures are thus likely to undergo significant revision in the next few months,” Mospi said.

The new enrollments under EPFO had dipped to 5.72 lakh in March this year from 10.21 lakh in February, 2020. The net new enrollments with the EPFO hovers around 7 lakh every month on an average while the average monthly addition under ESIC is around 12 lakh and under NPS is 62,000

During 2019-20, the number of net new subscribers under EPFO rose to 78.58 lakh compared to 61.12 lakh in 2018-19. Net additions under EPFO during September, 2017–April,2020 stood at 1.55 crore while 3.86 crore additions were made under the Employees’ State Insurance Scheme and 20,25,650 subscribers were added under the National Pension Scheme.

Mospi has been releasing the payroll data of new subscribers under EPFO, ESIC and NPS since April 2018, covering a period starting from September 2017.