The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has initiated a nationwide campaign till October 31, encouraging employers to enrol eligible workers outside the formal social security system, offering a one-time opportunity to regularise past omissions with minimal penalties.
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has asked employers to use its 2026 enrolment drive to bring eligible workers into the provident fund system, in a move aimed at widening India’s formal social security net. The campaign is designed for employees who were left out of coverage even though they were eligible, and it offers employers a limited window to regularise those omissions. According to the Labour Ministry, the exercise is meant to extend provident fund, pension and insurance protection to workers who remained outside the scheme.
The programme was notified on June 29 and, according to the ministry and related campaign guidance, runs until October 31. It covers eligible employees who joined an establishment between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2026, remained outside EPF coverage, are still alive and continue to work for the employer making the declaration. The campaign is being presented as a one-time chance to clean up past compliance gaps without waiting for enforcement action.
Under the scheme, employers can declare such workers and enrol them through the prescribed online process. The ministry said each declared employee must be assigned a Face Authentication-based Universal Account Number through the UMANG app, after which contributions are to be remitted through the Electronic Challan-cum-Return system. Guidance published by payroll and compliance specialists says the campaign also waives the employee’s share where it was never deducted, while requiring employers to pay their share along with interest.
The campaign also appears to be unusually broad in allowing participation even for establishments already facing proceedings, including Section 7A and Section 125 inquiries, according to compliance advisories summarising the notification. Those same summaries say the drive carries a nominal penalty of ₹100 per establishment, far below the usual escalating penalties, giving employers a strong financial incentive to self-correct before the window closes. Employers are being urged to review wage and employment records carefully and identify anyone who should have been covered but was missed.
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