PF wage ceiling ₹25,000 from 17 September 2026: what changes for your payroll
The PF wage ceiling of ₹25,000 applies from 17 September 2026. Who must now join EPF and EPS, how to split the September ECR, and what it costs employers.
Last checked 6 min read
The PF wage ceiling of ₹25,000 has been in force since 17 September 2026. It is the first EPF wage limit increase since 2014, and it quietly changes three things at once: who must be in PF, how much the company pays, and how September's return is filed. If your September ECR is still pending, you have until 15 October.
We have walked a few payroll teams through this in the last fortnight. The questions are always the same, so here they are in one place, with the numbers worked out.
What the PF wage ceiling 25000 notification says
The notification is S.O. 5109(E), dated 17 September 2026, issued under the Code on Social Security. It replaced the ₹15,000 figure that had been carried into the Code earlier in the year. EPFO followed it with a wage ceiling FAQ, and most of what payroll needs comes from that FAQ rather than the notification itself.
The short version:
- Anyone whose PF wages are between ₹15,001 and ₹25,000 a month must now be in EPF, EPS and EDLI. The employer enrols them. No application or consent from the employee is needed.
- People in that band who were already in EPF but not in the pension scheme (the "EPF only" members) must join EPS from 17 September.
- Above ₹25,000, coverage is voluntary, with the employer's consent. Existing contributions on higher wages do not have to be cut.
- New joiners get EPS only if their wages at joining are within ₹25,000.
One point is still argued. EPFO's FAQ says the ceiling is tested against "wages" as the Code defines them, which brings in the 50% add-back for allowances. Whether the PF base itself also moves from basic plus DA to Code wages is not settled. We wrote about the add-back in the 50% wage rule, component by component. Until a CA tells you otherwise, test coverage on Code wages and keep the base you use today.
Who is affected in a typical plant
Take a 300-person auto-parts plant in Pune. Operators earn a basic plus DA of ₹14,000 to ₹22,000, supervisors ₹26,000 to ₹35,000, and the office staff are spread across both.
Three groups need attention:
- Operators above ₹15,000 who were never in PF. Under the old ceiling, someone joining at ₹18,000 could be left out as an excluded employee. They now have to be enrolled.
- EPF-only members in the band. People who joined after 2014 above ₹15,000 often have EPF but no EPS. From 17 September they get EPS too.
- Everyone above ₹15,000 who was contributing on the ceiling. If your policy was 12% of ₹15,000 for anyone above it, the base now goes up to actual wages or ₹25,000, whichever is lower.
For the first group, the employee now creates the UAN, not the employer. Since 1 August 2025 that happens in the UMANG app with Aadhaar face authentication, and the employee gives you the number. Build two or three days into onboarding for it.
A worked example: ₹22,000 basic plus DA
Ravi is an operator on ₹22,000. He has been a PF member for years, and the company contributed on the ₹15,000 ceiling.
| Monthly figure | Before (₹15,000 base) | From October (₹22,000 base) |
|---|---|---|
| Employee share, 12% | ₹1,800 | ₹2,640 |
| EPS, 8.33% | ₹1,250 | ₹1,833 |
| Employer EPF (12% less EPS) | ₹550 | ₹807 |
| EDLI, 0.5% | ₹75 | ₹110 |
| Admin charges, 0.5% | ₹75 | ₹110 |
| Total employer cost | ₹1,950 | ₹2,860 |
Ravi's take-home drops by ₹840 a month, and the company pays ₹910 more. Each contribution is rounded to the nearest rupee on its own, which is why EPS shows ₹1,833 and not ₹1,832.60.
Now scale it. If 120 people in the plant sit in the band at an average of ₹20,000, the extra employer cost is about ₹650 a head, or roughly ₹78,000 a month. That is an illustration, not a forecast, but it is the number your finance head will ask for.
For a supervisor on ₹30,000 whose company caps at the ceiling, the base moves from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000. Employee share goes from ₹1,800 to ₹3,000, and the EPS contribution on ₹25,000 tops out at ₹2,083.
September 2026: one ECR, split by days
This is where most of the confusion sits. EPFO's FAQs describe a single ECR for September with the month split by date:
- 1 to 16 September on the old ₹15,000 ceiling;
- 17 to 30 September on ₹25,000.
For Ravi, that means the first 16 days carry PF on ₹15,000 × 16/30 = ₹8,000, and the last 14 days on ₹22,000 × 14/30 = ₹10,267. His September PF wage is ₹18,267.
Be aware that one worked example inside the same FAQ points the other way, and at least one law firm preferred the new ceiling for the whole month before the FAQ came out. The split by date is what EPFO's answers say most clearly, so it is a sensible default. Keep the calculation sheet with your September papers in case the regional office asks.
Two more September points:
- If you did not deduct the newly covered employee's share in September, the FAQ allows you to recover it from the next payroll without prior approval. The full ECR is still due by 15 October 2026.
- Tell people before October payslips go out. A ₹840 drop in take-home with no explanation turns into twenty tickets at the HR desk.
We cover the related case of back-dated pay in PF on salary arrears: an arrear for August still uses August's ₹15,000 ceiling.
What to do this month
A short checklist that works for most companies:
- Pull the list. Everyone with PF wages from ₹15,001 to ₹25,000 on 17 September, tested on Code wages.
- Enrol and move. Enrol those outside PF, collect UANs, and switch EPF-only members to EPS.
- File September split by date, keep the working, and pay by 15 October.
- Decide the policy above ₹25,000. Employer at the ceiling and employee on actual wages, or both on actual wages under a joint option. Write it down.
- Update CTC letters and payslip notes so the new deduction is explained.
- Check new-joiner rules, so nobody above ₹25,000 at joining gets EPS by mistake.
The paragraph numbers in the PF scheme also changed this year, which trips people up when they read older notes. The EPF Scheme 2026 in plain words has the old and new numbers side by side.
If you run payroll in a tool, check that the ceiling is stored with a date, not as one fixed figure. Vatsin Payroll keeps the ₹15,000 and ₹25,000 values as dated versions and offers the September split as the default, with the other readings as options. Whatever you use, make sure an arrear for an earlier month still picks up that month's ceiling.
The change is good news for most employees in the long run, since more of them now build a pension. For payroll, it is one careful September and then a new normal.