The Supreme Court directed the government to consider taking a decision within four months on the issue of revision of the existing basic salary ceiling of Rs 15,000 for enrolment under the Employees’ Provident Fund scheme.
A Bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and A. S. Chandurkar passed the order on a plea filed by activist Naveen Prakash Nautiyal who claimed that the Employees Provident Fund Organisation currently excludes anyone earning more than Rs 15,000 per month from coverage.
Counsel Pranav Sachdeva and Neha Rathi, appearing for Nautiyal, told the SC that the wage ceiling has been revised inconsistently, with no fixed periodicity or linkage to relevant economic indicators. They urged the government and the EPFO to consider and implement a criterion for future revisions of the wage ceiling under the EPF scheme.
The petition said that the EPFO which administers social security schemes for employees currently excludes from coverage those whose wages exceed Rs 15,000 per month. However, the wage ceiling has historically been revised inconsistently, sometimes after 13-14 years, without any fixed periodicity or linkage to relevant economic indicators such as inflation, minimum wages, per capita income or consumer price index.
The petition argued that the erratic approach has resulted in the exclusion of large sections of the workforce which contradicts the objective of providing social security to employees in the organised sector.
The petition further claimed that employees who earn above the ceiling are automatically excluded from the scheme even though their income levels may still qualify for social security coverage. This leads to arbitrary exclusion with no rational basis linked to economic realities.
The bench has directed the petitioner to submit a representation to the central government within two weeks. The Centre has been asked to evaluate and decide the representation within four months.
The EPFO currently excludes from coverage those whose salaries exceed Rs 15,000 per month. All employees with basic pay up to Rs 15,000 are required to contribute to the Employees’ Provident Fund. However, beyond this limit, EPF contributions are optional for those who joined after September 1, 2014.
