The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched the Employee Enrollment Scheme 2025, effective from November 1, 2025. The scheme aims to broaden social security coverage and encourage employers to enroll eligible employees under the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952.

What is the Employee Enrollment Scheme 2025?

The Employee Enrollment Scheme 2025 (EES 2025) is an initiative by the Ministry of Labour and Employment to bring more workers into the organized social security framework managed by the EPFO. This follows a similar successful enrollment campaign in 2017, which focused on enrolling eligible employees who were left out between 2009 and 2016. The EES 2025 provides a six-month window, from November 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026, for employers to voluntarily declare and enroll eligible employees who were not previously enrolled in the EPF scheme.

Who is eligible?

The scheme applies to all employees who: * Joined the establishment between July 1, 2017, and October 31, 2025. * Are currently employed as of the date of declaration. * Were not previously enrolled in the EPF scheme for any reason.

How does it help workers in India?

The Employee Enrollment Scheme 2025 offers several benefits to workers in India:

• Expanded Social Security Coverage: By encouraging enrollment, the scheme brings more workers under the umbrella of social security benefits provided by the EPFO, including provident fund, pension, and insurance.
• Financial Security: Enrollment in the EPF scheme ensures that employees have a savings corpus for their retirement and access to funds during emergencies.
• Pension Benefits: The scheme contributes to the long-term financial security of employees by providing pension benefits after retirement.
• Reduced Economic Inequality: By formalizing the workforce and extending social safety nets, the scheme helps reduce economic inequality across the country.

Benefits for Employers

The scheme also provides significant benefits for employers:

• Reduced Penalties: Employers who enroll eligible employees under the scheme will only be liable to pay a nominal penal damage of Rs. 100, a substantial reduction from standard penalties for non-compliance.
• Waiver of Employee's Share: The employee's share of provident fund contribution for the past period (July 1, 2017, to October 31, 2025) will be waived, provided it was not deducted from the employee's wages. The employer is only required to pay their share for that period.
• Simplified Regularization: The scheme simplifies the process of regularizing past non-compliance, offering a cost-effective and transparent route for employers to correct their records.
• No Suo Motu Action: The EPFO will not initiate any suo motu compliance action against employers who avail of the scheme for employees who have already left the establishment as of the date of declaration.
• Ease of Doing Business: The scheme promotes ease of doing business by reducing the burden of penalties and simplifying compliance procedures.

How to Enroll

Employers can enroll eligible employees through an online facility provided by the EPFO. To participate, employers must create face authentication-verified Universal Account Numbers (UANs) for each eligible employee using the UMANG app and make payments through the Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) system. All eligible employees will need to make an online declaration via the EPFO portal, which will be linked to the corresponding ECR.

EPFO 3.0 and Other Initiatives

The EPFO is also enhancing its digital platform with EPFO 3.0, which will offer instant claim settlements, multilingual self-service options, and payroll-linked automation. Other initiatives, such as simplified withdrawal categories and the Viswas Scheme, have been introduced to ease compliance for employers. The EPFO has also partnered with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) for digital life certificate submissions, especially benefiting pensioners in remote areas.