New Delhi: The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) on Thursday criticised the government’s decision to raise the monthly wage ceiling for mandatory EPFO coverage to Rs 25,000, calling it “too little and too late”.
The union demanded a higher ceiling of Rs 30,000 to bring more employees under the social security schemes run by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
Follow The PSUWatch Channel on WhatsApp
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved an increase in the ceiling from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000.
AITUC said the decision was a belated response to a longstanding demand from trade unions. The ceiling was last revised in September 2014, while wages, prices and living costs have risen substantially since then, it argued.
The union said demands for an increase had repeatedly been raised with the government and EPFO, including in Parliament in 2022. Employee representatives on EPFO’s Central Board had also pressed for a Rs 25,000 ceiling, with a specific proposal made in February 2024.
The delay, AITUC alleged, had left millions of workers earning above Rs 15,000 outside mandatory EPFO coverage.
Follow Energy Watch on LinkedIN
AITUC argued that the revised ceiling remained inadequate and that social security coverage should evolve alongside minimum wages, actual earnings, inflation and living costs.
“This revision is therefore too little and too late. AITUC demands that the ceiling may be raised to Rs 30,000 in order to include deserving sections of employees,” it said.
The union also said wider social security coverage should not come at the expense of workers’ monthly pay.
It demanded that employers’ statutory EPFO contributions be paid over and above employees’ cost to company (CTC), without being deducted from or adjusted against their agreed and existing wages.
(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)