Employment and Labour Ministry has announced the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme, 2026. Therefore, the EPF Scheme, 1952, which has been in place for sixty years, will be replaced with the Code on Social Security, 2020. The new system will be implemented on June 29, 2026, the date of its publication in the Gazette, and was designed under the Code on Social Security, 2020.
The basic structure of the provident fund, such as contribution rates and membership provisions, is maintained. However, the regulations have been revised to enhance digital compliance, governance, and administrative simplicity.
New Features of EPF Scheme 2026
The necessary contribution for paid employees is still 12% of salaries, with the present rate of 10% for notified enterprises remaining unchanged. Additionally, the statutory pay ceiling framework has been preserved by the government, which means that mandatory contributions are still tied to the wage cap that the Centre announces. But there's more leeway under the new plan.
Contributions to the voluntary provident fund (VPF) over the statutory maximum can be made by employees; employers are not required to match these contributions but are free to do so if they so desire. Continued existence is another crucial aspect. With the 2026 programme, all current EPF subscribers will be instantly upgraded to members, so there will be no interruption to their retirement savings or account balances.
Beginning on the date they are eligible, all newly hired employees of covered establishments will be required to enlist. The government has decreed that all employees who were either members of the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 1952, or were required to become members until that scheme's termination date have to join this scheme.
New EPF Scheme Putting a Strict Scanner
The regulations are even stricter for workers at exempted businesses who are responsible for their own PF trusts. Members must be able to access their funds online, claims must be processed digitally, trustees must make more frequent disclosures, and electronic record-keeping is a requirement of the scheme. Businesses need to make it easy for customers to settle their claims online and send out electronic annual statements by the due dates. Trustees are required by the Gazette to keep records digitally, send out yearly statements, and make it possible for workers to view their account balances online.
Additionally, the plan ensures that members' Universal Account Numbers (UANs) remain permanent identifiers, which helps with portability when employees change jobs. If an employee is unable to generate a UAN through the designated gateway, the employer is required by the notice to assist the employee in this matter. Consequently, the notice is more concerned with the management of salary employees' savings than with altering the amount that they put away.
Paperwork is anticipated to decrease as a result of digital compliance, stricter regulation of exempt PF trusts, and smooth continuity under the Social Security Code. Without changing the basic retirement benefit structure, these components will make PF account management easier and increase transparency even further.
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