Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman addressing a press conference today announced the extension of the Atmanirbhar Bharat RojgarYojana (ABRY) till March 31, 2022. The scheme aims at new employees and extends a helping hand towards employers and employees regarding contributions into the employee provident fund account.
There are conditions to be met before the government contributes towards your PF account:
An employee drawing monthly wage of less than Rs. 15000 who was not working in any establishment registered with the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) before 1st October, 2020 and did not have a Universal Account Number or EPF Member account number prior to 1stOctober 2020 will be eligible for the benefit.
In establishments employing upto 1000 employees, Government will pay both 12% employees’ contribution and 12% employers’ contribution i.e. 24% of wages towards EPF in respect of new employees for two years.
In establishments employing more than 1000 employees, the Government will pay only employees’ share of EPF contribution i.e. 12% of wages in respect of new employees for two years.
Under the scheme, the Government of India was to provide subsidy for two years in respect of new employees engaged on or after 1st October, 2020 and upto 30th June, 2021. Now, the benefit of the scheme can be availed till March 31, 2022.
Currently, the mandatory monthly contribution by the employee stands at 12 per cent of the monthly pay which includes monthly basic pay, dearness allowance and retaining allowance, if any.
EPFO will credit the contribution in Aadhaar seeded account of members in electronic manner. Make sure your UAN is linked to Aadhaar. ABRY aims to boost employment in the formal sector and incentivize creation of new employment opportunities during the Covid recovery phase under Atmanirbhar Bharat Package 3.0.
