The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation has urged employers to use a one-time national campaign to enrol eligible workers who were left outside provident-fund coverage between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2026.
The Employees’ Enrolment Campaign 2026 will remain open until October 31. It is intended to help establishments voluntarily regularise earlier enrolment gaps while extending provident fund, pension and insurance benefits to workers who meet the campaign’s conditions.
Employers can declare eligible employees who were omitted during the specified period, provided the workers are alive and continuing in employment with the establishment on the date of declaration. This condition means the campaign is aimed at correcting coverage for current employees rather than reopening every historical employment case.
The scheme provides specified compliance relaxations. Where an employee’s share of provident-fund contribution was not deducted from wages during the relevant period, that share may be waived subject to the campaign conditions. The employer remains responsible for the payments and charges prescribed under the framework.
Enrolment and remittance must be completed through the designated online process. A Face Authentication-based Universal Account Number is to be generated through the UMANG application for each declared employee, while contributions are to be paid through the Electronic Challan-cum-Return system.
The campaign creates a structured route for establishments to review employment and wage records, identify eligible workers and correct past exclusions. For employees, successful enrolment can provide access to statutory social-security benefits that may not have been available because they were not placed under EPF coverage at the appropriate time.
Provident-fund coverage has long-term implications because it supports retirement savings, pension eligibility and insurance-related protection under the applicable EPFO schemes. The value of the campaign will therefore depend on employers identifying omissions accurately and completing the process before the deadline.
EPFO is conducting awareness and outreach activities for employers, workers, contractors and other stakeholders. Union ministries, state and Union Territory governments, public-sector undertakings, autonomous bodies and other organisations have also been encouraged to spread information among establishments and service providers under their administrative control.
The initiative does not automatically enrol every worker outside the system. Employers must make a declaration, employees must satisfy the eligibility conditions, and the required digital identification and remittance steps must be completed.
Establishments considering participation should examine their records for the period beginning April 2009 and confirm which continuing employees qualify. They must also ensure that information submitted through the employer portal is consistent with wage and employment documentation.
The October 31 closing date creates a fixed compliance window. Employers that identify eligible workers but delay the process risk losing the opportunity offered under the campaign. EPFO’s immediate emphasis is therefore on record review, timely online enrolment and completion of the associated remittance requirements.
