No word on raising the minimum wage, say unions

Representative image. | Photo credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

On June 29 and 30, the Union Ministry of Labor published the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF), Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) and Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) Rules, 2026, which replaced the old 1952 rules for schemes with millions of workers.

The new rules were required after the implementation of the Social Security Code in November 2025. The Central Board of Trustees (CBT) approved the draft rules in its 239th meeting on 2 March 2026.

The Department told the CBT that the announcement of the new regimes would provide a legally sound framework under the Code and enable the incorporation of previously approved reforms. The government said it would facilitate alignment of the scheme’s provisions with the Code and remove ambiguity during the transition phase, while ensuring continuity and stability in the administration of social security benefits. However, the unions said that the announcement did not reflect the demands of the participants, such as an increase in the minimum pension and the clarity of the provision of a higher pension for applicants.

To bring the application of the EPF scheme in line with the Code, the rule has been amended to apply to every undertaking covered by Chapter III of the Code and every undertaking owned or controlled by the Central or State Government. The new rule also redefined exempt facilities and the “international worker.”

In the EPS rules, if a member’s salary exceeds ₹15,000 per month, the current wage limit for pension, employer and central government pension contribution will be limited to the amount payable out of the employee’s salary of ₹15,000 only. In the new rule, it was amended to read: “If the salary of a member exceeds the salary ceiling notified by the Central Government, the contribution payable by the employer and the Central Government shall be limited to the amount payable out of the wages up to that salary ceiling”, indicating that the government can adjust the salary ceiling for pension, which is a trade union demand.

There is a minor adjustment in the case of pension paying agencies, which were previously limited to agencies such as post offices, nationalized banks, state treasuries or regular commercial banks including regional rural banks or cooperative banks. The government anticipates that new types of payment agencies may come in the future. In the EDLI Scheme Rules, the Center has amended the definition of ‘insurance service provider’, ‘insurance policy’, ‘commissioner’, ‘member’ and ‘agent’. A new valuation provision has been added that the CBT shall appoint a valuer every three years for the valuation of the insurance fund and his report shall be submitted to the CBT.

Center of Indian Trade Unions leader and workers’ representative in CBT R. Karumalaiyan told The Hindu that the amendments were cosmetic and the long-pending demands to raise the minimum pension and address issues in the distribution of higher pensions had been ignored by the government. “The government has ignored these demands. Also, the pension ceiling, which was set in 2014, should have been changed. That is also not in the rules. This is a big disappointment,” he said.

Published – 02 Jul 2026 23:34 IST