EPF & ESI Registration

An establishment becomes liable for Employees' Provident Fund registration on employing 20 or more persons, per Section 1(3) of the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, and must register with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation and obtain an establishment code; once covered, coverage continues even if headcount later falls below 20. Contribution obligations follow Section 6 of the Act, Paragraph 29 of the EPF Scheme, 1952 and Paragraph 3 of the Employees' Pension Scheme, 1995 — 12% employer and 12% employee contribution on wages up to the ₹15,000 monthly ceiling, with 8.33% of the employer share (capped at ₹1,250) routed to the Pension Scheme and the balance 3.67% to the Provident Fund.

Employees' State Insurance registration is triggered under Section 1(3) read with the applicable state notification (factories employing 10 or more persons using power, and other notified establishments employing 10 or more persons, with some states retaining a 20-employee threshold for non-factory establishments), requiring registration with the Employees' State Insurance Corporation. Contribution rates are 3.25% employer and 0.75% employee under Section 39 of the ESI Act, 1948 as revised by G.S.R. 423(E) dated 13 June 2019, applicable to employees drawing gross wages up to ₹21,000 per month (₹25,000 for employees with disability).

The four new Labour Codes commenced from 21 November 2025 (PIB PRID 2192463); registration thresholds and procedures above will be read alongside the Codes' provisions once the implementing central rules (expected around May 2026) take effect.

EPF and ESI registration is the statutory onboarding of a business into India's social security system. Under the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952, an establishment employing the prescribed number of employees must register under the Act and deduct and remit provident fund contributions; under the Employees' State Insurance Act 1948, an establishment with the prescribed employee count must register with the ESIC and pay the insurance contributions. The registrations give the establishment its EPFO code and ESIC code — the identifiers through which every future contribution, return and claim flows.

The registrations are the employer's entry into a compliance system that runs continuously. Once registered, the employer deducts the employee share and adds the employer share every month, files the monthly ECR, and pays into the EPFO and ESIC accounts — and the employees' UANs and insurance numbers are created through the same system. The payroll, the returns and the claims all hang off the two codes.

The cost of operating without registration is the statutory consequences under both Acts: the liability for the contributions, damages and penalties prescribed for default, and the personal exposure of the employer. For the employees, an unregistered employer means no PF, no pension, no ESI cover — the exact protections the two Acts exist to provide, and the absence of which surfaces in every employee grievance.

This service is for establishments crossing the EPF and ESI thresholds. We confirm the applicability under both Acts, prepare and file the registrations with the EPFO and ESIC, obtain the establishment codes and the employee UANs, and set up the monthly contribution, ECR and return process so the employer's social security obligations run on autopilot.