EPF, NPS enrollments at four month high, ESIC declines to three-month low

New enrollments in less remunerative jobs declined to a three-month low in July, even as better paying jobs continued to post stronger numbers, according to preliminary data released by the government on Monday.

New subscriptions to the Employees' State Insurance Corporation, which applies to smaller establishments and less remunerative jobs, declined to a three-month low of 1.49 million in July compared with 1.53 million in the previous month.

On the other hand, net enrollments under the Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme were 18.8% higher in July compared with the previous month, whereas new subscribers to the National Pension Scheme rose 40% sequentially. Both EPFO and NPS recorded the highest enrollments for the fiscal in July, with EPFO adding 1.87 million employees, whereas the NPS added 76,372 new people to the scheme.


EPFO and NPS numbers were higher compared to the previous year, however, ESIC enrollment were 7% down from July-2022.

However, for the first four months of the year, both EPFO and ESIC had higher enrollments, but NPS despite the stellar showing July was still lower. A comparison for first four months of the year shows that average monthly net enrollments to the EPF at 1.51 million were 30.7% higher than FY23, whereas the average monthly net enrollments to ESIC were 6% higher. NPS average new enrollments at 64,079 were lower than FY22 and FY23.

Private corporations drive NPS enrollments

The jump in NPS enrollments was driven by a doubling of new employees in the corporate sector, where NPS subscribers went up to 29,333 compared with 14,386 in the previous month. Meanwhile, the number of state government subscribers also increased to 32,528 in July from 29,829 in the previous month and central government also registered a near 40% increase in subscribers sequentially.

The subscribers from state government are expected to decline given that some of states have announced a move back to the old pension scheme.