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The Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme 2026, notified on 29 June 2026, introduces Amnesty provisions as a transitional measure — a one-time opportunity for provident fund trusts to regularise their exemption status.
The window targets PF trusts recognised under the Income Tax Act, 1961 that do not hold a formal exemption order under section 17 of the EPF & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 or section 143 of the Code on Social Security, 2020.
The amnesty runs for six months from notification, up to 28 December 2026; operational guidelines were issued in an EPFO circular dated 11 July 2026.
Besides retrospective regularisation of exempt status, applicants get a waiver of certain Code on Social Security requirements — minimum employee headcount, corpus size and the three-year compliance rule — and may afterwards choose to operate as either an exempt or an unexempt establishment.
EPFO has approached the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India to reach auditors who can identify eligible trusts, and has asked the Income Tax Department to cross-check EPF coverage and exemption status before granting or continuing recognition of PF trusts.
Most covered employers deposit provident fund contributions with the EPFO. Section 17 allows the appropriate government to exempt an establishment from all or any provisions of the Employees' Provident Funds Scheme, 1952, on the single substantive condition that the benefits the establishment provides its employees are not less favourable than those under the Act. An exempted establishment then runs its own PF trust: employer and employee contributions go into that trust instead of to EPFO, and the trust manages and pays out the corpus, subject to conditions and reporting. Separately, the Income Tax Act, 1961 provides for 'recognised' provident funds, which is what confers tax benefits on contributions and accumulations. The two recognitions are distinct, and the gap the amnesty addresses is precisely where they came apart: trusts that obtained recognition from the tax authorities but never secured — or never completed — a formal exemption order from the labour side. Such trusts have been operating as though exempt without the order that makes them so. The amnesty regularises that position retrospectively, rather than leaving employers exposed to the consequences of years of unauthorised operation.
Simple Analogy: It is the difference between having a licence from one department and permission from another: the trust had the tax department's recognition but not the labour authority's exemption order, and the amnesty is a one-time window to obtain the missing paper without being penalised for the years it was absent.
The provision empowering the appropriate government to exempt an establishment from all or any provisions of the EPF Scheme, subject to the condition that employee benefits are not less favourable than under the Act. A formal order under this section is what the amnesty allows trusts to obtain retrospectively.
The corresponding exemption power under the consolidated social security law. The Code is one of the four labour codes, whose major provisions were brought into force on 21 November 2025; section 143 supplies the successor route to exemption alongside section 17 of the 1952 Act.
Provides for 'recognised' provident funds, which carry the tax treatment employers and employees rely on. The amnesty's target group is trusts recognised under this Act but without a labour-side exemption order — and EPFO has asked the tax department to check EPF coverage and exemption status before granting recognition in future.
Notified on 29 June 2026; the instrument that introduces the Amnesty provisions as a transitional measure, valid for six months up to 28 December 2026.
Administers India's principal organised-sector social security schemes and processes exemption applications; here it is conducting the amnesty outreach through its field and zonal offices, including seminars held by Zonal Office UP and Zonal Office Kolkata.
The tripartite body — with representatives of the Central and State governments, employers and employees — that administers the three schemes: the Employees' Provident Fund Scheme, 1952, the Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 (EPS-95) and the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976 (EDLI).
Approached by EPFO as an outreach partner: its members conduct statutory and income-tax audits of establishments, many of which have formed PF trusts, and are therefore well placed to identify trusts that could use the amnesty. ICAI has been requested to circulate the provisions among its members.
| Aspect | Exempted establishment | Unexempted establishment |
|---|---|---|
| Where contributions go | Into the establishment's own PF trust | To the EPFO |
| Legal basis | An exemption order under section 17 of the EPF & MP Act, 1952 or section 143 of the Code on Social Security, 2020 | Default coverage under the Act/Code |
| Condition for exemption | Benefits to employees must be not less favourable than under the Act | Not applicable |
| Fund management | Managed by the trust, subject to EPFO conditions and reporting | Managed by EPFO |
| Choice after amnesty regularisation | The establishment may continue as exempt | The establishment may instead choose to comply as unexempt |
The Code on Social Security, 2020 sits alongside the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, which together consolidated 29 central labour laws; major provisions were brought into force on 21 November 2025.
EPF Scheme 1952, EPS-95 and EDLI 1976 are administered by the tripartite Central Board of Trustees — a standard trio in questions on organised-sector social security.
Recognition under the Income Tax Act, 1961 is what makes PF contributions and accumulations tax-favoured; the amnesty highlights that tax recognition and labour-law exemption are separate approvals.
One-time regularisation windows with waived eligibility conditions are a recurring compliance-reform instrument, comparable in design to tax amnesty and settlement schemes.
Whether contributions sit with EPFO or with a private trust affects portability and the reach of universal social security architecture, a live policy question under the Code.
GS Paper 2 > Governance > Welfare and Social Security Administration
General Awareness > Social Security Institutions, EPFO and Labour Codes
General Awareness > Government Bodies and Schemes
EPFO, the Central Board of Trustees and the four labour codes are staple banking general-awareness material and appear regularly in UPSC Prelims governance questions.
An establishment permitted to run its own provident fund trust instead of depositing contributions with EPFO, under an exemption order granted on the condition that employee benefits are not less favourable than under the Act.
A provident fund recognised under the Income Tax Act, 1961, which determines its tax treatment — a separate approval from the labour-law exemption order.
The tripartite body of government, employer and employee representatives that administers the EPF Scheme 1952, EPS-95 and EDLI 1976.
A time-bound, one-time opportunity to regularise a non-compliant position — here, retrospective grant of exempt status with certain eligibility conditions waived.