EPF wage ceiling: SC says plea needs no further hearing as Cabinet raises limit to Rs 25,000

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said a plea concerning revision of wage ceiling under the Employees' Provident Fund Scheme would not call for any consideration as the Cabinet has approved raising the wage ceiling to Rs 25,000 per month from Rs 15,000.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih was hearing a plea seeking a direction to the authorities to immediately revise the existing wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 per month which had remained unchanged since 2014.

"We saw in the newspapers. All your prayers have been granted," the bench told the advocate appearing for the petitioner.


The government on September 16 approved raising the wage ceiling for mandatory coverage under the EPFO to Rs 25,000 per month from Rs 15,000 to expand access to provident fund savings and pension protection.

During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel said a notification in this regard has not been issued yet.

"We take notice of the said submission and we find that the writ petition would not call for any further consideration as we think that following the Cabinet decision, the consequential steps would be taken by the respondents," the bench said.

"The newspapers said they have taken a Cabinet decision. They will notify," it told the petitioner's counsel.

The plea had sought directions to the Centre and the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to consider and implement a dynamic formula or objective criteria for future revisions of wage ceiling under the Employees' Provident Fund Scheme.

It had also sought directions to notify a mandatory mechanism for annual periodic revision of wage ceiling, in line with relevant economic indicators such as minimum wages, inflation, consumer price index, income tax exemption thresholds, and per capita net national income.

The Union Cabinet decision is expected to bring more than 51 lakh additional employees within the ambit of mandatory EPFO coverage, significantly widening social security protection for workers, Information and Broadcasting Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said at a press briefing on September 16.

He had said that "Rs 25,000 per month salary will be the new ceiling for provident fund deduction".

The Ministry of Labour and Employment had said the revised ceiling would be effective from Vishwakarma Day on September 17.

The EPFO wage ceiling remained unchanged from 2004 to 2014, and was enhanced to Rs 15,000 in September 2014.