EPFO Latest Update: Employees Might Get Health, Maternity, and Disability Benefits Soon

The Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) wants to broaden the range of services it offers, going beyond just pensions and provident funds to include health, maternity, and disability benefits. According to officials, the organization is qualified to handle a basic social protection level since it has long-standing experience providing for fundamental social security entitlements (SPF).

According to officials, a proposal is in the works and there are now early conversations. The SPF, which includes access to basic healthcare and income security, is a collection of basic social security guarantees that are nationally defined and ensure protection intended to avoid or alleviate poverty, vulnerability, and social exclusion.

The EPFO is initially aiming to target more than 450 million workers, 90% of whom are in the unorganized sector. The International Labour Organization recommends that such guarantees be provided to all residents and all children, as defined in national laws and regulations and subject to existing international obligations.

With its extensive experience in providing for basic social security entitlements, EPFO can become a manager of a basic Social Protection Floor (SPF), as required by convention 202 of the International Labor Organization, according to the retirement fund organization's Vision 2047 document, which was shared by its trustees at its most recent board meeting on July 30.

The EPFO will determine the amount of contribution required from both individuals and the government to provide such benefits when deciding whether to extend its product portfolio, which is now in the planning stages.

The EPFO asserts that there is a substantial untapped potential for covering the informal sector, which has been included in the code on social security, as well as those who have been excluded from the formal sector due to company size and wage restrictions.