Confused About Employer's PF Contribution: Is It 12% or 13.61%? Can You Clarify?

Hello Senior,

I am new to the HR profession and a little confused about the PF contribution percentage from the employer's side. If I am not mistaken, both the employer and employee contribute 12% of the basic salary to the PF account, with the employer's 8.33% going to the pension fund and the remaining 3.67% to the PF account. However, I have seen some senior's posts where they mention that the employer's contribution is 13.61% in the PF account, and PF is calculated from Basic + all allowances. Could you please help me choose the right one?

Thank you.

12% employee
12% employer (8.33% to EPS, and the difference of 3.77% goes to the employee)
0.5% EDLI employer
0.65% admin charges employer
Total employer contribution: 12% + 0.5% + 0.65% = 13.15%
Charges are reduced by the amount of admin charges effective from 01.04.2017

As per the Act, only HRA is exempted from PF in Gross Wages. However, I can see many companies pay PF only from Basic (+DA). During PF inspection, this may be scrutinized by the PF officials. Bonus, incentive, reimbursable expenses/allowances can be exempted.

The current employer contribution is 13.15%.

PS: During salary CTC calculation, it is advised by finance experts to put employer contribution as 12%, as the remaining amount covers admin charges.