look news india
EPFO Wage Limit Hike: To strengthen the social security of employees working in the organized sector, the Central Government can increase the minimum wage limit under the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) from the current Rs 15000 to Rs 21000. Apart from this, the number of 20 employees for any company to join EPFO can be reduced to 10-15 so that more and more companies can be brought under the ambit of EPFO.
The minimum wage limit under the Employees Provident Fund was last changed in 2014. Then the minimum salary limit was increased from Rs 6500 to Rs 15000. But there has been no change in this limit in the last 10 years. According to an Economic Times report, current Labor and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is reviewing all the pending cases and the government also believes that the minimum wage limit for the Employees' Provident Fund as well as the number of employees joining the EPF should be revised. The limit also needs to be increased.
By increasing the minimum wage limit to Rs 21,000, more money will be deducted from the salaries of employees for the Provident Fund and the contribution to the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) will also increase. Under the Employees Provident Fund, both the employee and the employer have to contribute 12 percent of the basic salary to the EPF. While 12 percent of the employee's share is deposited in the EPF account, out of the 12 percent of the employee's amount, 8.33 percent is deposited in the EPS (Employee Pension Scheme) and 3.67 percent is deposited in the EPF account. By increasing the minimum salary limit under EPF, not only will more money be deposited in the EPF account from the employee's salary, but the EPS contribution will also increase.
In fact, the demand to increase the minimum wage limit has been raised several times in the meetings of the Central Board of Trustees of EPFO, whose members are members of employee unions.