Confused About EPFO ABRY Declaration? Clarifying Point 3 on PF Deductions

EPFO ABRY

Some points created confusion in a declaration by the employer. Point 3 of Section A of the declaration states that we have not deducted the PF contribution from the employee's wages. My question is, for which month is this declaration?

Thank you.

Employer registration under ABRY

Employer registration under ABRY is a timely activity. The very meaning of the said clause is that the employer will not deduct any EPF contributions from the salary of eligible employees and employer EPF/EPS contributions until the scheme is in force. For more details, read the complete guidelines given in the employer portal.

Understanding EPFO Contributions

Generally, the employer will deduct 12% of the PF salary from the employee for contribution towards EPFO. This is called the employee share. The employer will contribute another 12% (EPF+EPS) as the employer's share. For employees eligible under ABRY, a total of 24% (employer+employee share) is borne by the Government. Therefore, we should not deduct PF from the salary of ABRY scheme employees.

To address your question, if you notice ABRY in the ECR statement for newly joined employees, we should not have deducted PF for that wage month for those ABRY-eligible employees.