Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana

The PMRPY Scheme aims to incentivise employers for employment generation by the Government paying the full employers' EPS contribution of 12% , for the new employees, for the first three years of their employment and is proposed to be made applicable for unemployed persons that are semi-skilled and unskilled. The scheme is implemented by the Ministry of Labour and Employment and is operational since August, 2016. The terminal date for registration of beneficiaries is 31.03.2019. 

Objectives

The Pradhan Mantri Rojgar Protsahan Yojana (PMRPY) is a scheme to incentivise employers registered with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for job creation by the Government paying the full contribution of employers to the Employee Pension Scheme (EPS) and Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) in respect of new employees having a new Universal Account Number (UAN).

This Scheme has a dual benefit, where, on the one hand, the employer is incentivised for increasing the employment base of workers in the establishment, and on the other hand, a large number of workers will find jobs in such establishments. A direct benefit is that these workers will have access to social security benefits of the organized sector.

Scheme Eligibility

All establishments registered with Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) can apply for availing benefits under the scheme subject to the following conditions

• Establishments registered with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) should also have a Labour identification Number (LN) allotted to them under the Shram Suvidha Portal . The LIN will be the primary reference number for all communication to be made under the PMRPY Scheme.
• The eligible employer must have added new employees to the reference base of workers in order to avail benefits under the Scheme from August, 2016 onwards. The reference base of workers will be determined by the number of employees against whom the employer has deposited the 12% (3.67% EPF + 8.33% EPS) with EPFO as on 31st March, 2016, as ascertained/verified from the monthly ECR for March, 2016. For example, an establishment, say M/s ABC Ltd. had filed an ECR for the employers' contribution for 45 employees/workers in March, 2016. In the month of April, 2016, the establishment has added, say, 15 new workers bringing the total of employees to 60, the employer will be eligible to apply for the PMRPY Scheme benefits for these 15 new employees. The employer will not be eligible to avail of PMRPY benefits if there is no new employment vis-a-vis the reference base in any Subsequent month. The new employee, as mentioned in para 5(e) above, is one that had not worked in any EPFO registered establishment or had a Universal Account Number, in the past, i.e. prior to 01 April, 2016.
• For new establishment coming into existence/getting registered with EPFO after 01 April, 2016, the reference base will be taken as Zero/NL employees. Thus, the employer can avail of PMRPY benefits for a new eligible employees.
• The PMRPY Scheme is targeted for employees earning wages less than Rs 15,000/- per month. Thus, new employees earning wages more than Rs 15,000/- per month will not be eligible. A new employee is one who has not been working in an EPFO registered establishment on a regular basis prior to 01 April, 2016 and will be determined by the allocation of a new Aadhaar seeded Universal Account Number (UAN) on or after 01.04.2016. In case the new employee does not have a new UAN, the employer will facilitate this through the EPFO portal.
• The employers will continue to get the 12 % contribution paid by the Government for these eligible new employees for the next 3 years, provided they continue in employment by the same employer. The  contribution will be paid by GOI after the employer has remitted the contribution for these new employees each month. To avoid any penalty on the EPF/EPS contribution, the employer is advised to submit the PMRPY online form at the earliest, preferably by the 10th of the following month.
• Employers/Establishments applying for the Scheme shall be fully responsible for the information uploaded, if at any time, it is found that the information submitted is incorrect or false, it will be assumed that the EPS payment and EPF payment has not been made for these employees. The employer will then be liable for dues and penalties as already specified under the relevant provisions of The Employees' Provident Fund Scheme, 1952.
• The terminal date for registration of beneficiaries through an establishment under the PMRPY is March 31, 2019.

Duration of the scheme

The Scheme will be in operation for a period of 3 years and the Government of India will continue to pay the full contribution to be made by the employer for the next 3 years. That is, all new eligible employees will be covered under the PMRPY Scheme till 2019-20.

Instructions for availing benefits under PMRPY scheme

Eligibility Criteria for establishments for claiming benefit under the scheme

• Establishment should be registered with EPFO under EPF Act 1952 and have a valid LIN
• Establishment should have a valid organisational PAN
• Establishment must have a valid Bank Account, the details of which are to be entered and through which payments may be made to the establishment.
• Establishment should have submitted their ECR for the month of March, 2016
• Establishment should have increased the number of employees on or after 01.04.2016
• For new establishments registered after 01.04.2016, all new employees can be covered subject to meeting of necessary conditions. The terminal date for registration of beneficiaries through an establishment under the PMRPY is March 31, 2019.

Necessary conditions for eligibility of employees under PMRPY

• New employee should have joined in the establishment on or after 01.04.2016 and should not have been a regular employee in any EPF registered establishment prior to this.
• Employer should ensure that the new employee has a valid UAN which is Aadhaar linked. In case it is not available, it may obtained from the EPFO website (http://www.epfindia.com/). The mobile number and other contact details are to be captured by EPFO.
• The monthly wages of the new employee should be less than Rs. 15,000
• The EPS contribution for the new employee will be available for 3 years.
• In case an establishment eligible for a Scheme has a drop/fall in employment from the reference base, the establishment will not be eligible for the scheme in the months where employment is below this reference base.
• Validation of new employees:
• Employer will upload the ECR file as proposed in ECR 2.0
• ECR will be accompanied with an online certificate from the employer stating that the Submission is claimed only in respect of new employees without past service and for newly created posts.

Process to be followed

• Employers are to Login to the PMRPY portal using their LIN/EPFO registration ID.
• Enter the organisational details that are required as per the format including the Organisational PAN. It is necessary to mention the nature of industry/sector as per National Industrial Classification Code NIC-2008, maintained by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme implementation.
  The appropriate NIC code is determined/ assessed by the value added by production of different products and services or net revenue derived from various activities, i.e. the industry code of the primary manufactured product (output) of that establishment. In case of multi-product establishments, the appropriate NIC code is determined by the category of the product contributing the maximum value added for the establishment. Where such assessment is not possible, classification may be done in terms of gross revenue attributed to the products, or services of the establishments, the number of persons employed for various activities.
• The employment to be covered under the Scheme would comprise new employment for workers earning wages less than Rs. 15,000/- per month. The description of the post (job role) for the new employment needs to be specified along with the date of joining and date of exit, if applicable.
• PMRPY form should be submitted by eligible employers at the end of each month, preferably by the 10th day of the following month.
• In case the employer does not submit the information on-line on the PMRPY form by 10th of the following month, he will not be eligible for availing benefits under the PMRPY Scheme for that month.
• The submission of the form will be determined by the employer having paid the EPS & EPF contribution in respect of these new employees.

For the scheme guidelines, click here.

Source : Website of PMRPY