EPFO: The Narendra Modi government is gearing up to make significant changes to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF). They’re actually looking into raising the EPF salary cap from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 to include more workers. The last time the EPF salary limit was raised was back in 2014. If this gets the green light, the new salary cap will kick in on April 1, 2026.

Investigation into the proposal

According to The Economic Times, a senior government official mentioned that the proposal to raise the EPF salary limit is currently under high-level review. The report states that it will be discussed at the upcoming EPFO Central Board of Trustees (CBT) committee meeting next month. After the Supreme Court instructed the EPFO to raise the salary limit within four months earlier this month, the proposal has been fast-tracked.

The court gave its order on the petition

In January, Justices JK Maheshwari and AS Chandurkar directed the central government to make a decision on an amendment proposal following a petition from social activist Naveen Prakash Nautiyal. The petition pointed out that the EPFO, which manages social security schemes for employees, leaves out those earning more than Rs 15,000 a month.

Lawyers for the petitioner, Pranav Sachdeva and Neha Rathi, argued that even though the minimum wage in many regions exceeds this limit, no adjustments have been made to the EPF wage ceiling. This situation is leaving many employees without access to social security and provident fund benefits. The petition highlighted that changes to the wage ceiling over the last 70 years have been inconsistent, sometimes taking as long as 13-14 years between adjustments.