India's Ministry of Labour and Employment has amended the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) to fix a ₹15,000 monthly wage limit for the central government's contribution, four weeks after the provident fund wage ceiling rose to ₹25,000. The amendment, notified on 15 October, applies retrospectively from 17 September, the day the higher ceiling took effect.
Two days before that, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) gave employers until 31 October to file and pay September's contributions, because the mid-month ceiling change split one wage month into two calculations. Together, the two notices show the rules around the higher ceiling still being written after it took effect, with September payroll as the first test.
A retrospective pension amendment
The notice, G.S.R. 890(E), amends paragraph 4(2) of the Employees' Pension Scheme, 2026. It replaces the words "such sum as may be specified by the Central Government" with "wages upto rupees fifteen thousand (Rs. 15,000/-) per month". It also removes "and the Central Government" from the paragraph's first proviso. Both changes appear in TeamLease RegTech's summary and in the Gazette text reproduced by Taxheal.
SCC Online describes the change as setting the wage ceiling up to which the central government will contribute to the scheme. That matches the position described when the government announced the increase: on 16 September, Business Today reported that the government's pension subsidy stayed capped at 1.16% of ₹15,000, with no decision to raise it. The amendment puts that position into the scheme's text.
What is not yet clear is whether the change reaches beyond the government's own share. UNI headlined the notice as the Centre fixing a ₹15,000 monthly wage ceiling under the EPS, which reads more broadly. Worked examples published before the amendment, in KPMG's summary of EPFO's FAQs and by Business Today, treat pay above ₹15,000 as EPS wages from 17 September, with the employer paying 8.33% on it. We found no EPFO instruction reconciling those examples with the amended text.
A filing extension for one month only
EPFO's circular of 13 October moved the due date for the September 2026 electronic challan-cum-return (ECR) and contribution payment from 15 October to 31 October, as reported by Deccan Herald, SCC Online and People Matters. The relief covers the September wage month only. Contributions for October remain due on 15 November.
The reason is arithmetic. Under EPFO's FAQs on the new ceiling, employers calculate contributions for 1 to 16 September at the old ₹15,000 ceiling and for 17 to 30 September at ₹25,000, and report both periods in one return, according to KPMG. In a worked example from Business Today, an existing member earning ₹20,000 a month who had been contributing on the ₹15,000 ceiling ends up with September EPF wages of ₹17,333.33.
The FAQs also let employers that could not deduct the higher employee share from September salaries recover it through October payroll without prior EPFO approval, KPMG reports. Employers must still report and pay the full September contribution in the September return. For a payroll system built to apply one statutory ceiling per wage month, that means a second rate period inside September and a carry-forward of unrecovered employee deductions into October.
Pension membership changes in the same return
The extension also gives employers time to process a membership change. EPFO has clarified that employees earning up to ₹25,000 a month must join the EPS, subject to eligibility conditions, Business Standard reported on 6 October. Existing members stay covered if their wages later rise above ₹25,000, while employees earning more who were not already members generally do not have to join.
EPFO's FAQs, as summarised by SGCMS and KPMG, say employers must enrol existing EPF members who sat outside the pension scheme and earn between ₹15,000 and ₹25,000 in the EPS from 17 September 2026. In payroll records, that is a change of pension status effective 17 September, reported in the same return as the split-ceiling calculation.
What to watch
The 31 October date now matters twice. It is the extended deadline for the September return, and it is the date by which the Centre expects every state and union territory to notify its rules under the four labour codes. Labour Secretary Chandra Bhushan Kumar said in September that ten states had published their rules and the rest had released drafts, Business Standard reported.
The next fixed date is 15 November, when the October return falls due on the normal timetable. October is the first full wage month at the ₹25,000 ceiling, so it will be the first return since the change without a split-month calculation. The open item before then is EPFO guidance on how G.S.R. 890(E) applies to those returns.
This article reports regulatory changes in India and is not legal advice.
Sources
- Ministry of Labour and Employment. G.S.R. 890(E), Gazette of India, 15 October 2026 (copy hosted by Taxheal). https://www.taxheal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/277193.pdf
- TeamLease RegTech. "MoLE issued the amendments to the Employees' Pension Scheme, 2026." 2026. https://teamleaseregtech.com/updates/article/60454/mole-issued-the-amendments-to-the-employees-pension-scheme-2026/
- SCC Online. Report on the Employees' Pension Scheme wage ceiling amendment. 2026. https://www.scconline.com/blog/?p=399061
- UNI. "Centre fixes Rs 15,000 monthly wage ceiling under Employees' Pension Scheme." 2026. https://www.uniindia.com/national/centre-fixes-rs-15000-monthly-wage-ceiling-under-employees-pension-scheme/215571
- Business Today. "From Rs 300 to Rs 25,000: How the wage ceiling under EPFO has increased over the years." 2026. https://www.businesstoday.in/personal-finance/story/from-rs-300-to-rs-25000-how-the-wage-ceiling-under-epfo-has-increased-over-the-years-555981-2026-09-16
- Business Today. Worked examples for employees earning ₹20,000, ₹25,000 and ₹35,000 under the new ceiling. 2026. https://www.businesstoday.in/personal-finance/story/rs25000-epfo-ceiling-what-happens-to-employees-earning-rs20000-rs25000-and-rs35000-558570-2026-09-30
- Business Today. Worked example of September 2026 PF contributions on a ₹20,000 salary. 2026. https://www.businesstoday.in/personal-finance/story/rs20000-salary-two-pf-calculations-what-changes-in-your-september-2026-epf-contribution-558030-2026-09-26
- KPMG. GMS Flash Alert 2026-253, India: EPFO wage ceiling FAQs. 2026. https://kpmg.com/xx/en/our-insights/gms-flash-alert/2026/flash-alert-2026-253.html
- Deccan Herald. "EPFO extends ECR filing due date to October 31." 2026. https://www.deccanherald.com/business/epfo-extends-ecr-filing-due-date-to-october-31-4181691
- SCC Online. "EPFO extends September 2026 ECR filing and PF contribution deadline to 31 October." 2026. https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/2026/10/15/epfo-ecr-deadline-september-2026-extended-31-october/
- People Matters. "EPFO extends September PF filing deadline to 31 October." 2026. https://www.peoplematters.in/news/economy-policy/epfo-extends-september-pf-filing-deadline-to-31-october-52798
- Business Standard. "EPS pension: EPFO explains who must join under Rs 25,000 wage ceiling." 2026. https://www.business-standard.com/finance/personal-finance/eps-pension-epfo-explains-who-must-join-under-rs-25-000-wage-ceiling-126100600421_1.html
- SGCMS. "FAQs by EPFO: Wage Ceiling Raised to 25000." 2026. https://www.sgcms.com/regulatory-updates/faqs-by-epfo-wage-ceiling-raised-to-25000/
- Business Standard. "All states, UTs may notify labour code rules by Oct 31: Labour Secretary." 2026. https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/all-states-uts-may-notify-labour-code-rules-by-oct-31-labour-secretary-126092401119_1.html