Meanwhile, a few days ago, five organisations representing members of the Employees’ Pension Scheme of the EPFO met in New Delhi and emphasised the need for revising the pension amounts, especially for those receiving less than ₹1,000. File
The Union Labour and Employment Ministry has clarified that contributions by employers and employees to the Provident Fund in excess of the statutory monthly wage ceiling of ₹15,000 are voluntary, after the Code on Social Security and three other Codes came into force on November 21.
The Code on Social Security replaces the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and eight other laws. Similarly, 20 separate laws are subsumed into the other three Codes – Code on Wages; Industrial Relations Code and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code.
In a post on social media platform X on Wednesday, the Ministry made it clear that “there is no legal requirement” for the contributions made over and above the wage ceiling. “In case the employer and the employee agree, they can voluntarily contribute on wages more than the statutory limit of ₹15,000.” It gave this explanation, while emphasising that there would be no reduction in take-home pay in the light of enforcement of the four Codes. Also, the Ministry gave an illustration to substantiate its position.
Since September 2014, the present limit has been in force. It was against this backdrop that early this month, Kerala MPs Benny Behanan and Dean Kuriakose raised a question in the Lok Sabha whether the ceiling would be increased to ₹30,000. The Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya replied that “raising the wage ceiling for coverage under EPFO [Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation] is done based on extensive stakeholders’ consultations, including trade unions and industry associations, as the same will have impact on the take-home salary of employees and on the hiring cost for employers.”
Meanwhile, a few days ago, five organisations representing members of the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) of the EPFO met in New Delhi and emphasised the need for revising the pension amounts, especially for those receiving less than ₹1,000. This was despite the Union government’s August 2014 decision to provide a minimum pension of ₹ 1,000 per month for member / widow(er) / disabled/ nominee/ dependent parent pensioners; ₹750 per month for orphan pensioners and ₹250 per month for children pensioners.
According to the Annual Report of the EPFO, 2023-24, there were 36.6 lakh pensioners who were getting a pension that was less than or equivalent up to ₹ 1,000. In a representation sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi late last month, the Employees’ Pension (1995) Coordination Committee stressed the need for bringing all eligible PF pensioners under the fold of higher pension based on wages, as, the panel contended, the EPFO had failed to implement it since 2004.
Published – December 12, 2025 10:45 pm IST
