Employees who are eligible for provident fund coverage but were left out between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2026, have a window to get enrolled under a special government campaign. The Employees’ Enrolment Campaign (EEC) 2026 will remain open until October 31, 2026.

 

The campaign, notified on June 29, will allow employers to voluntarily correct past compliance gaps and bring eligible employees under the EPF system, according to the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

 

For employees, one of the key benefits is that their share of contribution can be waived where it was not deducted from wages earlier, subject to the conditions of the campaign.

  Who can be enrolled?

The scheme is meant for employees who were left outside EPF coverage during the specified period of April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2026.

 

However, there are important conditions. The employee must be alive and continuing to work with the establishment on the date when the employer makes the declaration.

 

This means the campaign is primarily aimed at correcting existing employment and compliance records. It is not a general facility for former employees to reopen old PF accounts after leaving an organisation.

 

The Labour Ministry said the campaign provides a “special one-time opportunity” to employers to enrol eligible employees who remained outside EPF coverage during the prescribed period.

 

The objective is to extend the benefits of provident fund, pension and insurance to workers who qualify for coverage but were previously left out, the ministry said.

 Employee contribution gets a key relaxation

One of the more significant aspects for employees is the treatment of their past contribution.

 

According to the ministry, EEC 2026 provides specified relaxations for regularising earlier compliance. This includes waiver of the employee’s share where it was not deducted earlier, subject to the conditions applicable under the campaign.

 

This is important because an employee who was never enrolled may otherwise face the question of how the historical employee contribution would be recovered.

 

The campaign therefore provides a route for employers to regularise eligible employees without automatically requiring workers to make up the employee contribution that was not deducted from their wages earlier.

 

The relaxation, however, does not mean that every past EPF liability is waived. Eligibility and other conditions under EEC 2026 will continue to apply.

 How will the process work?

The enrolment process is to be completed through the prescribed online mechanism.

 

According to the Labour Ministry, employers have to generate a Face Authentication-based Universal Account Number (UAN) through the UMANG App for each employee declared under the campaign.

 

After this, enrolment and contribution remittance have to be completed through the prescribed Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) process.

 

For employers, this makes it important to check their historical employment and wage records to identify workers who may have been missed from EPF coverage.

 What should employees do now?

Employees who believe they should have been covered by EPF but were not enrolled should first approach their employer or HR department.

 

They should check:

Whether their establishment was covered by EPF provisions;Whether they were employed during the April 1, 2009-March 31, 2026 period;Whether they were eligible for EPF but remained outside coverage;Whether they are still employed with the establishment; andWhether the employer has initiated enrolment under EEC 2026. 

The ministry said EPFO is conducting awareness and outreach activities among employers, employees, establishments, contractors and other stakeholders to explain the campaign.

 

It has also urged employers to review their employment and wage records and identify eligible workers who may have remained outside EPF coverage.

 

The deadline is October 31, 2026. Employees who believe they were wrongly left outside EPF coverage should therefore raise the issue with their employer well before the campaign closes.

 

For eligible workers, the campaign could provide access to a social-security framework that includes provident fund, pension and insurance benefits. For employers, it offers a one-time mechanism to address past enrolment gaps under specified relaxations.