The Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has added 18.23 lakh net subscribers during the month of July, according to the provisional payroll data of EPFO released on Tuesday (20 September).

EPFO is a social security organisation responsible for providing a number of benefits to the members covered under the statute of EPF & MP Act, 1952.

The Organisation provides provident fund, pension benefits to the members on their retirement and family pension and insurance benefits to their families in case of untimely death of the member.

"The provisional payroll data of EPFO released on 20th September, 2022 highlights that EPFO has added 18.23 lakh net members in the month of July, 2022," the Ministry of Labour said in a release on Tuesday.

"Year-on-year comparison of payroll data reflects an increase of 24.48 per cent in net membership addition in July 2022 as compared to the corresponding month during last year in 2021," the ministry said.

Over 10.5 lakh new members joined EPFO in July

Out Of the total 18.23 lakh members added during the month, around 10.58 lakh new members have come under the social security cover of EPFO for the first time, according to the ministry.

During the month, around 4.07 lakh members exited from the ambit of EPFO and 11.72 lakh members exited and rejoined the organisation.

"These members have chosen to retain their membership through transfer of funds rather than opting for final settlement," the ministry said.

This may be attributed to various e-initiatives taken by EPFO for seamless and uninterrupted service delivery, it added.

Large number of first-time job seekers joining organised sector workforce

According to the ministry, the data of new members joining EPFO has shown a growing trend since April 2022.

Out of 10.58 lakh new members added, approximately 57.69 per cent are from the age-group of 18-25 years of age.

This shows that first-time job seekers are joining organised sector workforce in large numbers following their education and new jobs in organized sector are largely going to the youth of the country, the ministry said.

Numbers of female increasing in organised workforce

Gender-wise analysis of payroll data indicates that enrolment of net female members has been 4.06 lakh in July 2022.

"Year-on-year comparison of enrolment data shows that new membership of females in organised workforce has increased by 34.84 per cent in July, 2022 comparing with the new female membership during previous year in July 2021," the ministry said.