A worker may have spent years with an establishment without getting access to provident fund, pension or insurance benefits. The EPFO’s latest campaign is aimed at fixing some of these gaps.
The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has asked establishments to use the Employees’ Enrolment Campaign, 2026 to regularise past records and bring eligible workers who were left outside EPF coverage into the social security system.
The scheme came into effect on June 29, 2026, and gives employers a one-time opportunity to enrol eligible employees who remained outside formal EPF coverage between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2026, according to the Ministry of Labour & Employment.
Employers have time until October 31, 2026 to use the campaign.
The scheme is aimed at encouraging voluntary compliance and extending provident fund, pension and insurance benefits to eligible workers who were missed earlier.
However, there are conditions. Employers can declare and enrol workers who missed EPF coverage during the specified period only if the employees are alive and actively employed with the establishment on the date of declaration.
The campaign also offers certain administrative relaxations to encourage establishments to come forward and regularise past omissions.
One of the key reliefs relates to the employee’s share of contribution.
The ministry said the campaign provides specified relaxations, including waiver of the employee’s share where it was not deducted earlier, subject to the conditions of the scheme.
This is intended to make it easier for establishments to correct past compliance gaps.
The registration process is digital.
Employers have to generate a face authentication-based Universal Account Number (UAN) for every employee being declared under the campaign through the UMANG mobile application.
Once the UAN registration is completed, the required statutory contributions have to be deposited through the Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) platform.
Employers have also been asked to review their employment and wage records internally to identify workers who meet the eligibility conditions.
The entire registration and payment process is to be completed through the designated online system.
The campaign is meant for eligible employees who should have been covered under EPF during the specified period but remained outside the formal system.
For such workers, enrolment can provide access to social security benefits linked to provident fund, pension and insurance.
The scheme also provides establishments with a structured way to correct past omissions instead of leaving earlier records unresolved.
Alongside the campaign, EPFO is carrying out awareness and outreach programmes to explain the scheme’s rules and process.
The outreach covers employers, workers, contractors and other stakeholders.
Various ministries, central departments, state governments, Union Territories, public sector undertakings and autonomous bodies are also coordinating efforts to spread information about the campaign among establishments and service providers under their control.
In other words, the Employees’ Enrolment Campaign is a one-time opportunity, and employers have until October 31 to complete the enrolment of eligible workers.
For establishments with gaps in their past EPF records, the campaign offers a chance to review those records and bring eligible employees into the formal social security system.
With the deadline approaching, EPFO has urged establishments to check their records and complete the required formalities before the campaign closes.