EPF schemes add more than 1.45 crore new subscribers in one year; 91 lakh cease to be members of retirement fund scheme

New Delhi: More than 1.45 crore new subscribers joined the Employees’ Provident Funds (EPF) Scheme during the one year period through August 2018, says payroll data released by the government Thursday. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has been bringing out the employment-related statistics in the formal sector since April, 2018 covering the period September 2017 onwards. [caption id=“attachment_5161771” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] It uses information on the number of subscribers who have availed benefits under three major schemes, namely, the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPFO), Employees’ State Insurance Scheme (ESIC) and the National Pension Scheme (NPS). As per the data, the number of new subscribers joining EPF during September 2017- August 2018 stood at 1,45,63,864. It further said that about 91 lakh ceased to be subscribers of the retirement fund scheme during the period. However, about 18.55 lakh subscribers, who had ceased to be members, have re-started their contributions during the period. The MoSPI further said the number of new National Pension System (NPS) subscribers during September, 2017 to August, 2018 is estimated at 6,89,385 persons. It has also provided month wise data on ESIC subscription.