The Employees' Enrolment Campaign 2026 (EEC 2026) was officially launched on June 29, 2026 and remains open until October 31, 2026, according to reports from The Economic Times, Mint, and Zee News. This campaign provides a one-time opportunity for establishments to enrol eligible employees who were previously outside EPF coverage between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2026. The initiative aims to bring more workers into the social security framework through voluntary compliance among employers, with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) urging establishments to make use of this special drive to regularise their past records and ensure that eligible employees who remained outside formal EPF coverage can now access social security benefits. As per Zee News, the campaign seeks to facilitate voluntary compliance by employers in order to provide provident fund, pension, and insurance-related benefits to eligible employees.
As reported by The Economic Times, Mint, and Zee News, the campaign allows employers to declare and enrol employees who were left out of EPF coverage during the prescribed seventeen-year window of April 1, 2009 to March 31, 2026, provided those workers are alive and continuing in employment with the establishment on the date of declaration. The Ministry has provided specific relaxations to facilitate regularisation of past compliance, including the waiver of the employee's share where it was not deducted earlier, subject to the constraints of the Campaign. This comprehensive approach ensures that eligible workers gain access to provident fund, pension, and insurance benefits. According to the latest EPFO release, the campaign is intended to benefit establishments and workers by providing a structured mechanism for bringing eligible employees within the statutory social security framework. The campaign specifically targets employees who should have been covered under EPF but were not enrolled during the specified period, with employees who have already left the establishment excluded from the declaration process.
As reported by Mint, the campaign provides significant financial relief to employers through waived employee contributions where the employee's share was not deducted from wages during the earlier period. However, employers must remit the employer's share of contribution, along with applicable interest and administrative charges, with a lump-sum damage of ₹100 applicable under the campaign. The initiative also allows establishments facing quasi-judicial proceedings under the earlier EPF law or the Code on Social Security to use the campaign, subject to prescribed conditions. This provides employers with a mechanism to address historical EPF enrolment gaps without having to recover the employee contribution from workers where it was never deducted from their wages. The campaign represents a one-time compliance window, not a permanent relaxation, making it crucial for businesses with historical payroll records to check whether any eligible employees were left outside EPF coverage during the covered period and complete the enrolment process before the October 31, 2026 deadline.
According to Mint and The Economic Times, employers are required to complete the enrolment and remittance process through the prescribed online portal. The UMANG app would generate a face authentication-based UAN for each declared employee and contributions are to be remitted through the Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) platform. As part of the process, establishments have been asked to conduct internal audits of their employment and wage records to identify individuals who qualify under the eligibility criteria. The fully digital process for registrations and payments seeks to ensure transparency and avoid any hassle, with employers required to carry out all formalities through the designated online portal only. As per Mint, the enrolment process involves generating a Universal Account Number (UAN) for each employee using face authentication through the UMANG app, accessing the EPFO Employer Portal and selecting the EEC-2026 module, entering employee and employment details, linking the Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) with the Temporary Return Reference Number (TRRN), generating the EEC challan, making required payments, and submitting the final declaration using digital signature certificate (DSC) or eSign. EPFO has urged establishments to use the limited window and complete the enrolment process before October 31, 2026.
As reported by The Economic Times, Mint, and Zee News, the Labour Ministry is undertaking extensive awareness and outreach activities to propagate the campaign's features among employers, employees, establishments, contractors and other stakeholders. The Ministry is encouraging other Ministries and Departments of the Government of India, State Governments and Union Territories, Public Sector Undertakings, Autonomous Bodies and other organisations to facilitate the spread of the Campaign among establishments and service providers under their administrative control. This coordinated approach ensures maximum reach and participation in the enrolment process, with various ministries, central departments, state governments, union territories, public sector undertakings, and autonomous bodies also coordinating to ensure wider dissemination across establishments and service providers operating under their administrative control. The aim of the scheme is to facilitate employee welfare through a government-backed initiative while providing a clear path for employers through voluntary participation, thus benefiting both establishments and workers.
