# EPFO wage ceiling raised to Rs 25,000, ministry warns against salary cuts

2026-09-26T23:51:25+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 4 independent outlets

The labour ministry has raised the EPFO wage ceiling from Rs 15,000 to Rs 25,000 per month, bringing over one crore additional workers under mandatory social security coverage. The change took effect from September 17. Employees earning between Rs 15,001 and Rs 25,000 will now be covered under the Employees' Pension Scheme, with mandatory monthly PF contributions rising to Rs 3,917. The ministry has directed employers not to reduce employees' statutory wages to offset the increased costs. In a set of FAQs, it said the employer's statutory contribution cannot be treated as an employee deduction by describing it as part of cost-to-company. To help with the added financial burden, the government offers an incentive of up to Rs 3,000 per month for every new hire under the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana.

## Indian Opinion Analysis

All four sources report the same policy change and the ministry's warning against salary cuts, with no editorial slant. The Times of India provides a detailed breakdown of contribution amounts at different wage levels, while NDTV Profit and Economic Times focus on the employer compliance burden and the government's incentive scheme. The uniform straight reporting suggests the ministry's messaging has been effectively disseminated. The key figure to watch is how many of the one crore newly covered workers are actually enrolled by employers in the coming payroll cycles.

## Coverage

- ndtvprofit.com (neutral report) <https://www.ndtvprofit.com/personal-finance/rs-25-000-epf-wage-ceiling-what-happens-to-your-pf-corpus-if-your-basic-salary-is-above-the-old-limit-12095465#publisher=newsstand>
  Straight factual reporting on wage ceiling change
- economictimes.indiatimes.com (neutral report) <https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/company/corporate-trends/dont-cut-salaries-india-sends-a-missive-to-companies-after-new-25000-epf-wage-ceiling/articleshow/134495703.cms>
  Quotes ministry FAQs and clarifies employer obligations
- timesofindia.indiatimes.com (neutral report) <https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/higher-epf-wage-limit-monthly-pf-contributions-rise-to-3917/articleshow/134510271.cms>
  Provides detailed contribution calculations for various salary levels
- pib.gov.in (neutral report) <https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRIDu003d2313790>
  PIB page not available, no content to judge

Tags: Employees’ Pension Scheme, EPFO, Labour and Employment Ministry, PM Viksit Bharat Rojgar Yojana
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