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EPFO Wage Ceiling Raised to ₹25,000 — Use Our New Calculator to Check the Impact

Salary-Tools Team · 24 September 2026

The Union Cabinet has approved raising the EPF wage ceiling from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 per month — the first change since September 2014. The Ministry of Labour & Employment formally notified the new ceiling through Gazette Notification S.O. 5109(E), dated 17 September 2026, under Section 2(89) of the Code on Social Security, 2020. The notification took effect the same day, the date of its publication in the Official Gazette, and it supersedes an earlier notification, S.O. 2702(E) dated 29 May 2026.

What this means in practice

The ceiling sets the wage figure used for the statutory minimum EPF/EPS contribution. Employee and employer contribution rates are unchanged at 12% each — only the wage figure they're calculated on has moved. Employees earning between ₹15,001 and ₹25,000 a month are the most directly affected: those already contributing on a capped ₹15,000 basis will generally see their contribution wage rise, and the change may bring some previously uncovered employees within mandatory coverage.

The September 2026 transition month

Because the new ceiling took effect mid-month, September 2026 falls across both the old ₹15,000 ceiling (1–16 September) and the new ₹25,000 ceiling (17–30 September). The Gazette notification doesn't specify how to handle this broken period, so employers are choosing between a few practical approaches while an EPFO circular is awaited.

Try the new calculator

We've built a full EPF Wage Ceiling Calculator covering:

• A contribution calculator with a dedicated September transition mode (choose pro-rated or not pro-rated)
• A coverage checker for whether a specific employee is newly within mandatory coverage
• A bulk cost impact estimator for employers budgeting the change across their workforce
• A practical action checklist for payroll and HR teams
• The original PIB press release and the Gazette notification, both available as downloadable source documents on the page

Try the EPF Wage Ceiling Calculator →

This is general information, not legal advice. Always verify figures against the official Gazette notification and any subsequent EPFO circular before making payroll decisions.