EPFO wage ceiling hiked to Rs25,000: BMS hails centre’s move

In a major boost to organized sector workers, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) Himachal unit has welcomed the union cabinet’s decision to raise the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) statutory wage ceiling from Rs15,000 to Rs25,000 per month.The decision, taken in a union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and announced by union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, ends a 12-year hiatus since the threshold was last revised in 2014.

The revised ceiling comes into formal effect on September 17.In a joint statement issued from Shimla, senior BMS state leadership including State President Madan Rana, General Secretary Yashpal Heta, Deputy General Secretary Devidutt Tanwar, and Treasurer Amit Chand Dogra-hailed the policy shift as a long-awaited realization of their core charter of demands.

“The wage threshold had remained stagnant for over a decade, creating an anomaly where minimum wages in several states exceeded the statutory EPF cap of Rs15,000,” the leaders said.
“This revision was the need of the hour to prevent wage-earning workers from falling out of the formal safety net,” they noted.

Nationwide, the recalibrated threshold will mandate social security coverage for an estimated 5.1 million additional employees earning between Rs15,000 and Rs25,000 per month. Under the expanded framework, eligible personnel will receive statutory benefits under guaranteed long-term savings and retirement accumulation. Enhanced monthly pension benefits post-retirement.

The labour union emphasized that the revision will provide substantial relief across Himachal’s industrial corridors. Thousands of workers employed in the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh (BBN) belt, Parwanoo, Kala Amb, Paonta Sahib, Mehatpur, Tahliwal and Gagret who earn between Rs18,000 and Rs24,000 were previously excluded from mandatory coverage.

The change will also formally cover workforce segments across major cement manufacturing units in the state, including ACC Barmana, Ambuja Darlaghat, Ambuja Rauri, and UltraTech Baga. Expressing gratitude to the Prime Minister, the BMS leadership termed the expansion of mandatory social security an essential structural pillar toward the broader national goal of Viksit Bharat @ 2047.