In a historic welfare decision for the formal workforce, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi granted approval on Thursday for raising the mandatory wage threshold under the Employees’ Provident Fund scheme from fifteen thousand rupees to twenty-five thousand rupees per month. The statutory revision represents the first upward adjustment to the provident fund eligibility ceiling in over twelve years.
Under the revised guidelines, establishments employing twenty or more individuals must mandatorily enroll all employees drawing basic wages up to the new threshold into statutory provident fund and pension frameworks. Labor ministry economists estimated that the expansion will immediately bring over ten million additional organized-sector workers under the protective umbrella of retirement benefits and life insurance coverage.
Employer federations and trade union leaders largely welcomed the decision, noting that adjusting the baseline was long overdue given nominal wage inflation across industrial manufacturing and retail service sectors. The Ministry of Labor and Employment will issue formal notification rules outlining transition timelines for corporate payroll systems to reflect revised contribution calculations.
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Sources:
https://school.edusaint.in/news/school-assembly-news-headlines-17-september-2026