SDG 1: No Poverty | SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
Institution: Ministry of Labour & Employment | Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO)
The Ministry of Labour & Employment has launched the Employees’ Enrolment Campaign 2025 (EEC 2025) to bring more workers under formal social security protection via the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). The scheme will run from 1 November 2025 to 30 April 2026.
The campaign targets left-out eligible employees who joined establishments between 1 July 2017 and 31 October 2025, but were not enrolled under EPF earlier. Employers will have a window to declare these employees via an online portal, link them to their Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) records, and pay a lump-sum penal damage of ₹100 per employee.
By encouraging voluntary compliance and offering a route for employers to regularize past records with minimal penalty, the government aims to accelerate formalisation of work, expand social security coverage, and improve labour protections. The campaign is also intended to support ease of doing business, by simplifying the compliance pathway for firms.
This move strengthens the welfare safety net for workers and aligns with national goals of labour formalisation, social inclusion, and universal social protection. It also underscores the government’s push to assert regulatory clarity and accountability in employer-employee compliance.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: What mechanisms should be instituted to ensure transparency, auditability, and sustained adherence in future social security enrolment campaigns?
Full release: PIB Release 2178405