The Supreme Court on Monday (January 5, 2025) allowed a petitioner to approach the Centre with a representation on the revision of the wage ceiling for Employees Provident Fund Scheme (EPFO).
A Bench headed by Justice J.K. Maheshwari permitted petitioner Naveen Prakash Nautiyal, an academician and activist, represented by advocates Pranav Sachdeva and Neha Rathi, to file a representation with the government in two weeks, along with a copy of Monday’s (January 5) court order. The government was asked to take a call in four months thereafter.
The petitioner argued that the EPFO had not been revised even though the minimum wage notified by the Central Government and by various States was more than the EPFO wage ceiling of ₹15,000 per month. This anomaly has resulted in depriving a majority of workers of the benefits and protection of the EPFO scheme, a welfare measure.
“The EPFO, which administers social security schemes for employees, currently excludes from coverage those whose wages exceed ₹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 said.
