Until 31 October 2026, any employer can enrol workers who joined between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2026 and were never put into EPF. The past employee share is waived if it was never deducted, and damages are a flat ₹100. The employer still pays its own share for the past period, with interest and administrative charges. The window is the Employees' Enrolment Campaign 2026, set out in the EPF Scheme 2026.
What the campaign is, and when it closes
It is a one-time window to regularise past non-enrolment, and it closes on 31 October 2026. The campaign is written into the Annexure to the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme 2026 (G.S.R. 525(E), 29 June 2026). It came into force with the Scheme and "shall cease to operate on the 31st day of October, 2026" (Annexure A(1)). The EPFO's own announcements put the operating window at 1 July to 31 October 2026 (PIB Panaji, 3 July 2026; PIB Pune, 17 August 2026). No later extension was found.
Any employer can use it, whether its establishment is already covered or is registering for the first time (A(2)). It can declare employees who joined between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2026, are still employed on the date of declaration, and "for any reason, were not enrolled" (A(2)(b)). Declarations are made online on the EPFO portal, and more than one is allowed (A(7)–(8)). The PIB Panaji release is blunt about what follows the deadline: employers who do not use the window "will be liable to normal enforcement action and prosecution".
What an employer pays under the campaign
The employer pays its own share for the past and the worker's share is waived, provided it was never taken from wages. The Annexure splits the cost like this:
| Item | Under the campaign | Where it is set |
|---|---|---|
| Worker's share for the past period | Waived, but only if it was never deducted from wages | Annexure A(13)(b) and A(17) |
| Employer's share for the past period | Payable from each declared worker's date of joining | A(13)(a) |
| Interest | Payable for the past period under section 127 of the Code on Social Security 2020 | A(13)(c) [VERIFY: rate notified under s.127] |
| Administrative charges | Payable, as applicable | A(13)(c) |
| Damages | A lump sum of ₹100, which the EPFO describes as per establishment, in place of the normal scale of up to 1% of the arrears a month | A(6), A(18); PIB Panaji, 3 July 2026 |
| From the month of declaration | Regular monthly compliance for the declared workers, both shares | A(3) and A(9) |
The process is fixed. The employer first creates a UAN for each eligible worker using face authentication through the UMANG app, pays the contributions through an Electronic Challan-cum-Return, then files the declaration online, linked to that challan's reference number, and pays the ₹100 (A(5)–(6)).
Who can be declared, and who cannot
Only workers still on the payroll can be declared, and the waiver stops where wages were deducted. The Annexure draws the lines case by case:
| Situation | What the campaign does |
|---|---|
| Joined between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2026, never enrolled, still employed | Can be declared (A(2)(b)) |
| Has already left the establishment | Cannot be declared. The EPFO takes no action over leavers if the employer undertakes that every existing eligible worker has been declared and no deducted contribution is pending (A(15)) |
| Worker's share was deducted from wages but never deposited | No waiver. The waiver applies only where the share was not deducted (A(13)(b), A(17)), and the A(15) undertaking cannot be given |
| An EPF inquiry is pending (section 125 of the Code, or section 7A of the old Act) | The employer can still join (A(10)), but both shares are payable (A(4)) and the benefit is limited to the ₹100 damages for the declared period (A(12)) |
| An assessment has already been concluded | Not considered under the campaign (A(14)) |
| Declaration made by misrepresentation or suppression of facts | Void from the start; normal action follows (A(16)) |
One question the text leaves open is the worker who was left out lawfully, because their wages were above the ceiling when they joined. The Annexure covers anyone not enrolled "for any reason", but its own proviso keeps pension membership within the wage ceiling and excludes post-September 2014 joiners above it (A(6), provisos) [VERIFY: whether EPFO accepts declarations for workers excluded on wages at joining].
How a contract workforce uses it
The contractor declares its own workers if it holds its own EPF code; otherwise the declaration runs under the site's. Under paragraph 20 of the EPF Scheme 2026, a contractor without independent registration is covered through the principal employer, and paragraph 20(4) keeps the principal employer responsible for contract workers' contributions either way. A site therefore has a direct interest in its contractors using the window before it shuts.
- Find the gap by name. Compare the site's gate register with the contractor's latest ECR. Anyone who worked at the site but is not on the challan is a candidate, if they joined within the window.
- Check each worker for an existing UAN first. The campaign starts with a face-authenticated UAN, but a worker who has been in EPF anywhere before already has one. A second number splits their record [VERIFY: how EPFO handles a declared worker who already holds a UAN].
- Confirm nothing was deducted. If the contractor's wage slips show a PF deduction that never reached the EPFO, the waiver does not apply, and the problem is larger than the campaign.
- Get the evidence. Ask for the declaration acknowledgement, the challan with its reference number and the ₹100 receipt, and file them with the month's PF records.
Whether a site's particular gap fits the campaign, especially where an inquiry is already running or contributions were deducted and kept, is a question for its own counsel.
How Velura Services helps
We compare each site's gate register with the contractor's ECR every month, so a worker who was never enrolled shows up by name. For a crew we take over, our payroll team checks every worker's EPF history before deployment, enrols missed workers on their existing UAN where one exists, and prepares the declaration and challans with the site's HR.
Sources
- Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 2026, G.S.R. 525(E) dated 29 June 2026, mirrored copy of the Gazette. Annexure A (Employees' Enrolment Campaign, 2026), sub-paragraphs (1)–(18); paragraph 20 (contractors and the principal employer). Opened and read [VERIFY: against the e-Gazette original].
- PIB Panaji, "Employees' Enrolment Campaign Extended; EPFO Urges Employers to Enroll Left-Out Employees", 3 July 2026. Coverage period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2026; ceases on 31 October 2026; ₹100 damages per establishment; workers must be alive and engaged on the date of declaration; enforcement after the window. Opened and read.
- PIB Pune, "EPFO launches Employees' Enrolment Campaign (EEC) 2026", 17 August 2026. Window of 1 July to 31 October 2026; face-authentication UAN and ECR-linked declaration; employee share waived where not deducted. Opened and read.
- Code on Social Security, 2020 (Act 36 of 2020), Gazette text hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Sections cited: s.125 (determination of dues), s.127 (interest), s.128 (damages). Opened and read for earlier articles in this cluster.