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The provisional payroll data of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), released on Wednesday, shows that it has added 14.12 lakh net subscribers in the month of February 2022.

According to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the month-on-month comparison of payroll data reflects a slight increase of 31,826 net subscribers in February compared to the previous month. On a year-on-year comparison, February 2022 saw an increase of 1,74,314 as compared to the net subscriber addition in corresponding month of 2021. There is consistent increase in the net subscriber addition since October 2021, showcasing trust in the services rendered by the organisation.

Out of the total 14.12 lakh net subscribers added during the month, around 8.41 lakh new members have been enrolled under the social security cover of EPF & MP Act, 1952 for the first time. Approximately 5.71 lakh net subscribers exited but re-joined EPFO by transferring their accumulations from previous PF account to the current PF account, instead of claiming a final withdrawal.

According to ministry, age-wise comparison of payroll data indicates that the age group of 22-25 years has been on the forefront by registering the highest number of net enrolments (3.70 lakh) during February 2022, followed by the age-group of 29-35 years - an addition of 2.98 lakh net subscribers during the month.

In a nutshell, the age-group of 18-25 years constitutes around 45 per cent of total net enrolments during the month. This age-group indicates that many first-time job seekers are joining the organised sector workforce in large numbers.

Pan India, the comparison of payroll figures highlights that the establishments covered in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Haryana, and Delhi are in lead by adding approximately 9.52 lakh net subscribers during the month, which is around 67.49 per cent of total net payroll addition across all age groups.

Gender-wise analysis indicates that net female payroll addition during the month is approximately 3.10 lakh during the month. Share of female enrolment is 21.95 per cent of the total net subscriber addition during the month of February 2022 with an increase of 22,402 net enrolments over the previous month of January 2022. This is largely due to lower female exits and higher new joining during the month.

Also, net female subscribers have consistently increased since October 2021 indicating increasing participation of women in the workforce.

Industry-wise payroll data indicates that mainly two categories, i.e. 'Expert Services' (consisting of manpower agencies, private security agencies and small contractors etc.) and 'Trading-Commercial establishments' constitute 47.28 per cent of total subscriber addition during the month. Moreover, growing trend in net payroll addition has been noted in industries like engineering contractors, automobile servicing, and building and construction industry etc.

The payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updation of employee record is a continuous process. The previous data hence gets updated every month. From the month of April 2018, EPFO has been releasing payroll data covering the period September 2017 onwards.

EPFO is country's principal organization responsible for providing social security benefits to the organised/semi-organised sector workforce covered under the statute of EPF & MP Act. In the current scenario of mobile usage and smartphone penetration, EPFO has extended its services through mobile governance also. With extensive use of social media nowadays, EPFO is also available on Twitter, WhatsApp and Facebook to help the subscribers and addressing their issues.