EPF
Applicability + contribution.
- Applies from
- 20 employees
- Wage ceiling
- ₹25,000 a month
- Employee contribution
- 12% of wages
- Employer contribution
- 12% of wages
- Due date
- ECR and payment by the 15th
Contribution above the ceiling is voluntary. Watch the 50% wages definition — it can pull more of CTC into the PF base.
₹25,000, not the ₹15,000 you will see almost everywhere else. The Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 2026 (G.S.R. 525(E), 29 June 2026) superseded the 1952 Scheme on the day it was published, and it states no rupee figure at all. Coverage and the contribution cap both key to “the wage ceiling notified by the Central Government”, and S.O. 5109(E) of 17 September 2026 notifies that ceiling as ₹25,000 a month, superseding S.O. 2702(E) of 29 May 2026. The Pension and Deposit-Linked Insurance Schemes of 2026, G.S.R. 527(E) and G.S.R. 526(E), carry the figure the same way, so one notification moves all three.
The ₹15,000 belonged to the superseded 1952 Scheme, under an Act that is itself repealed — the 2026 Scheme calls it “the Repealed Act”. The repeal took three instruments to establish: S.O. 5319(E) of 21 November 2025, S.O. 5936(E) of 19 December 2025 which corrected its table, and S.O. 2060(E) of 3 May 2023 which its exceptions point back to. Reading the first of those alone gives the opposite answer.
Two things we have not established. We have not read S.O. 2702(E), so what the ceiling was between 29 June and 17 September 2026 is not settled here. And EPFO’s own scheme page still describes the 1952 Scheme, the 1952 Act and ₹15,000 — so expect to meet the old figure, and check the date on whatever you are reading.
Registering is one filing, not two. Rule 5 of the Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 sends the employer to Form-I of the OSH (Central) Rules, 2026 on the Shram Suvidha Portal, and makes it “the common form for registration under these rules”. One Form-I registers the establishment for provident fund and for state insurance together — see ESI, which shares this checklist. Note that ESI’s own ₹21,000 wage ceiling rests on a saving that runs out on 21 November 2026, so the two halves of this single registration are not equally settled.
From the Gazette Library · 12 source documents
Source: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 — G.S.R. 345(E), with Form-I · ·
Source: Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 — G.S.R. 344(E), as published by ESIC · ·
Source: Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 2026 — G.S.R. 525(E) dated 29.06.2026 · ·
Source: Employees' Deposit-Linked Insurance Scheme, 2026 — G.S.R. 526(E) dated 29.06.2026 · ·
Source: Employees' Pension Scheme, 2026 — G.S.R. 527(E) dated 29.06.2026 · ·
Source: Corrigendum to the Code on Social Security commencement — S.O. 5936(E) dated 19.12.2025 · ·
Source: Code on Social Security, 2020 — first partial commencement, S.O. 2060(E) dated 03.05.2023 · ·
Source: Code on Social Security, 2020 — commencement of Chapters III and IV, S.O. 5319(E) dated 21.11.2025 · ·
Source: Wage ceiling for Chapter III of the Code on Social Security, 2020 — ₹25,000 a month, S.O. 5109(E) dated 17.09.2026 · ·
Source: Inspection charges for establishments exempted under section 143, Code on Social Security 2020 — S.O. 2701(E) · ·
Source: Simple interest of 12% p.a. on dues under section 127, Code on Social Security 2020 — S.O. 2698(E) · ·
Source: EPF contribution rate of twelve percent under section 16(1)(a), Code on Social Security 2020 — S.O. 3582(E) · ·
- A late fee applies after sixty days, at a rate the Central Government specifies separately
- An establishment already registered under another Central labour law must update its particulars in Form-I within six months
- Form-III within seven days, or the establishment is deemed registered
- LIN, name, address and PAN; headcount split into direct, contract and inter-State migrant; ownership type; NIC activity and code; employer, manager and contractor details
- Documents of registration of the establishment, proof of identity and proof of address
- One Form-I on the Shram Suvidha Portal registers for provident fund and state insurance together
- Registration is one Form-I, common to provident fund and state insurance
- An employer may still contribute on wages above the ceiling in permitted cases
- The Scheme's own definitions call the 1952 Act 'the Repealed Act'
- The notified ceiling governs both who is covered and how much is contributed
- No rupee ceiling appears anywhere in the Scheme
- ₹25,000 a month
- The Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 1952 was superseded on 29 June 2026
- Contributions are on wages under section 2(88), subject to the wage ceiling in section 2(89)
- The Employees' Deposit-Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976 was superseded on 29 June 2026
- Corrected by G.S.R. 704(E) of 4 August 2026, which makes ten numbered corrections
- The benefit tables still end at a '15,000 or more' band
- The Pension Scheme states no wage ceiling of its own
- The Employees' Family Pension Scheme, 1971 and the Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 were superseded on 29 June 2026
- The EPF and MP Act, 1952 IS repealed — in part from 3 May 2023 and in full from 21 November 2025
- The repeal of the EPF and MP Act, 1952 began on 3 May 2023, in part
- The EPF and MP Act, 1952 IS repealed
- Published by EPFO as a homepage notice, not in its circular archive
- ₹15,000 under the 1952 Act and ₹25,000 under Chapter III are both in force; no instrument reconciling them has been seen
- Supersedes S.O. 2702(E) of 29 May 2026
- ₹25,000 a month, for Chapter III of the Code on Social Security, 2020
- 0.005% of wages, minimum Rs 1,250 per month
- 0.35% of wages, minimum Rs 8,750 per month
- 12% per annum simple interest on any amount due, from the due date until actual payment
- jute, beedi, brick, coir (other than spinning sector), guar gum factories