Why in news?

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is planning its next phase of reforms, EPFO 3.0.

This aims to introduce a universal pension cover for all workers, extend first-time social security contributions to unorganised sector workers including gig and platform workers, and upgrade its technology backbone through a Core Banking Solution (CBS).

What’s in Today’s Article?

• From EPFO 2.0 to EPFO 3.0
• Universal Pension Cover: How It Will Work?
• Learning from Global Models
• Coverage for Gig and Platform Workers

From EPFO 2.0 to EPFO 3.0

• Over the past year, EPFO has worked on EPFO 2.0, which delivered a revamped portal with a centralised database merging 123 regional databases, ensuring timely interest credit and visibility of eligible withdrawal balances for members.
• The organisation is now moving to EPFO 3.0, built on a CBS-enabled tech platform.
  • CBS is the centralised payments software that forms the backbone of Indian banks, enabling real-time deposits and withdrawals across branches.
• This shift is essential to manage payments for social security schemes covering India's entire workforce of over 60 crore workers, more than three-quarters of whom are in the unorganised sector with limited or no pension coverage.

Universal Pension Cover: How It Will Work?

• The new pension scheme will follow a defined contribution framework, drawing from multiple sources:
  • Workers themselves
  • Employers
  • Government co-contributions for lower-income workers
  • Aggregators (for gig and platform workers)
  • CSR or third-party funds
• This marks the first time EPFO will allow such varied contribution and withdrawal structures.
• Currently, it only permits advance claims or partial withdrawals for specific purposes (education, illness, housing, marriage) or a lump-sum settlement at retirement.
• How the Corpus Builds?
  • Contributions will accumulate over time, invested in government-backed securities with annual interest credit.
  • At retirement, members can convert their "Target Retirement Sum" (TRS) into either:
    • A pension, based on prevailing annuity and interest rates, or
    • A systematic withdrawal plan
  • The system will dynamically compute the TRS based on the member's chosen pension goal and expected retirement age, offering personalised dashboards showing contributions, real-time corpus status, and progress toward the TRS.
  • Members can also adjust their TRS, with contribution requirements recalculated accordingly.

Learning from Global Models

• EPFO is studying international systems, notably Singapore's Central Provident Fund (CPF), a deferred annuity scheme covering retirement, housing, and healthcare.
• Under CPF, 20% of salary is contributed, supplemented by employers and the government, with differential interest rates: up to 6% for those aged 55 and above and 5% for those below 55.
• Flexibility features planned
  • Inflation-adjusted pension projections.
  • Simulation of pension amounts based on age, corpus, interest rate, and retirement age.
  • Ability to increase or decrease withdrawal amounts (higher initial drawdowns draw from the principal; lower drawdowns let interest compound, creating an inflation-linked effect later).
  • Notably, the proposed EPFO scheme is expected to be more flexible than the National Pension System (NPS), where the mandatory annuity requirement was reduced to 20% in December 2025, easing lump-sum payouts for non-government subscribers from the earlier 60:40 ratio.

Coverage for Gig and Platform Workers

• EPFO expects around 2.5 crore gig workers and Building and Other Construction Workers (BOCW) to be added over the next five years.
• Key Design Features Include
  • One-to-many mapping: a single Universal Account Number (UAN) will be linked to multiple employers and aggregators, showing total contributions while retaining employer-wise breakdowns.
  • Support for third-party contributions from NGOs, individuals, donor organisations, and CSR, tracked under each UAN with a configurable upper limit.
  • Flexible co-contribution models to include delivery partners, drivers, and other platform workers.
• BOCW Coverage
  • India has over 3.5 crore registered BOCWs, with net cess collections exceeding ₹70,000 crore across state welfare boards.
  • The new scheme aims to channel these funds into structured, sustainable, and portable pension benefits.
• Family and Survivor Pensions
  • The scheme also proposes coverage for spouses, children, and orphans, funded through a pooled "Family Benefit Fund" managed on actuarial principles.
  • Members of EPF, GPF (General Provident Fund), and other provident funds may also be allowed to transfer balances into the new pension initiative.

Legal Basis and Technical Backbone

• EPFO 3.0 will operationalise PF contributions for all unorganised sector and gig workers, in line with the Code on Social Security, which brings gig and platform workers into the social security net for the first time.
• Under the Code, aggregators must contribute 1-2% of annual turnover toward social security, with total contributions capped at 5% of the amount payable by the aggregator.
• Given the scale involved, covering a workforce exceeding 60 crore, EPFO is adopting CBS as its technological foundation, since it is already validated and regulated by the RBI.
• The platform will support a split-payment model, allowing innovative contribution mechanisms, such as voluntary contributions from unorganised workers, third-party payments, or even a small diversion (e.g., 5%) from digital transactions like food delivery app payments toward social security.

Conclusion

EPFO 3.0 represents a structural shift, from a scheme built around formal-sector employees to one designed for India's vast and diverse workforce, including gig workers and the unorganised sector. Its success will depend on how effectively technology, flexible contribution models, and the Code on Social Security are integrated to deliver adequate, portable pension coverage at scale.