EPF Compliance Relief 2026: EEC-2026, PMVBRY and VISHWAS Explained for Employers

EPF defaults are rarely just a payroll problem. A missed enrolment can affect an employee's provident fund accumulation, pension service and insurance protection. For the employer, delayed compliance may lead to contribution arrears, statutory interest, damages, proceedings, recovery action and avoidable litigation.

In 2026, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation has made three distinct routes relevant to many establishments: the Employees' Enrolment Campaign, 2026 (EEC-2026), the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana (PMVBRY), and VISHWAS, 2026. They are complementary in some cases, but they are not interchangeable. This guide explains the verified rules, the financial impact and the practical action sequence.

EEC-2026 vs PMVBRY vs VISHWAS: the quick comparison

1. What is the Employees' Enrolment Campaign, 2026?

EEC-2026 is a special, time-bound route for voluntary enrolment of eligible employees who were left out of EPF coverage for any reason during the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2026. It applies to establishments covered or coverable under the EPF law framework.

Who can be declared under EEC-2026?

• The employee must fall within the prescribed left-out period.
• The employee must be alive and actively working in the same establishment on the date of declaration.
• Exited employees are outside this declaration route. The official release also states that no suo-motu action will be initiated under the campaign for employees who exited before declaration.
• Establishments already facing quasi-judicial proceedings can also examine participation for the relevant declaration period, subject to the notified conditions.

What is waived—and what still has to be paid?

How the EEC-2026 filing process works

1. Identify all potentially omitted employees by reconciling payroll, attendance, wage registers, contractor records, UAN history and ECR filings.
2. Confirm present employment and the employee's eligibility for the declaration date.
3. Generate or validate UANs, using face authentication through UMANG where required.
4. Open the EPFO Employer Portal and select the EEC-2026 module.
5. Enter employment details, link the ECR using the Temporary Return Reference Number, generate the EEC challan and remit the calculated amount.
6. Submit the final declaration using the authorised DSC or eSign and retain the challan, ECR, declaration, calculation and supporting payroll evidence.

2. PMVBRY: incentives for first-time workers and additional employment

PMVBRY is an employment-linked incentive programme with an outlay of ₹99,446 crore, targeting creation of more than 3.5 crore jobs. Scheme benefits apply to eligible jobs created between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2027. It has two separate parts.

Part A: incentive for a first-time employee

• The person must qualify as a First Timer under the scheme.
• Gross wages at the time of joining must be up to ₹1,00,000 per month.
• The total incentive equals one completed month's average EPF wage, capped at ₹15,000.
• The first instalment is up to ₹7,500, calculated as half of the average EPF wage for six continuous completed months, after six paid ECRs.
• The second instalment is based on the average of 12 completed months' EPF wage, reduced by the first instalment and subject to the overall ₹15,000 cap.
• The employee must complete the prescribed financial-literacy programme for the second instalment. That instalment is placed in a specified savings instrument/deposit arrangement for the prescribed period.

Part B: incentive for employers creating additional jobs

Part B applies to eligible first-timers and re-joinees who represent net additional employment above the establishment's baseline and complete at least six months with the same employer.

The employer incentive generally runs for two years. For the manufacturing sector, it continues into the third and fourth years. Benefits are paid in six-monthly lump sums after the paid ECR and eligibility conditions are satisfied.

Baseline and threshold conditions matter

• Where the baseline is below 50 employees, at least two additional employments are required.
• Where the baseline is 50 or more, at least five additional employments are required.
• For many existing establishments, the baseline is built from ECR employment strength in the prescribed pre-scheme period.
• For establishments newly registered with EPFO between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2027, the guidelines prescribe a baseline of 20, with eligible additionality measured above that baseline and the threshold.
• The scheme tests continuing average employment strength. A month in which the threshold is not met does not produce an incentive or extend the incentive period.

How payment is made

Employee incentives are paid by Direct Benefit Transfer through the Aadhaar Bridge Payment System into the employee's Aadhaar-seeded bank account. Employer incentives are paid into a PAN-linked bank account. Pending Aadhaar seeding can suspend employee payment, although eligible incentive may continue to accrue until the account is seeded.

3. VISHWAS, 2026: settle eligible EPF damages disputes

VISHWAS, 2026 is a one-time digital settlement mechanism for eligible damages or penalty disputes under Section 14B of the EPF & MP Act, 1952 or Section 128 of the Code on Social Security, 2020. It came into force on 29 June 2026 and remains operational for six months from notification.

Which cases can be covered?

1. Orders under challenge before a court, tribunal or other judicial forum.
2. Final damages orders where recovery is pending or only partly made, including recovery-certificate cases.
3. Cases where a notice has been issued but the final damages order is pending.
4. Pre-adjudication cases where a damages notice has not yet been issued.

Reduced damages rates for eligible defaults before 14 June 2024

Preconditions and exclusions

• The entire applicable statutory interest under Section 7Q/Section 127 must be remitted before application.
• The applicant must undertake not to pursue a further appeal for the dispute settled under the scheme.
• Amounts already paid and statutory appeal pre-deposits are adjusted under the detailed scheme mechanism.
• Cases where damages have already been fully recovered are excluded.
• Fraud, misappropriation and deliberate falsification of records are excluded.
• Cases with unpaid applicable statutory interest are excluded.

Applications are submitted through the EPFO Employer Portal using DSC or eSign. For a deeper standalone guide, read TaxFetch's VISHWAS, 2026 eligibility and application explainer.

Which route should an employer examine?

A practical employer action checklist

1. Freeze the facts. Download ECRs, challans, UAN lists, wage registers, attendance, payroll, contractor ledgers and pending EPFO notices/orders.
2. Reconcile employee-by-employee. Compare payroll names and joining/leaving dates against UAN and ECR records.
3. Build three separate workings. Prepare an EEC arrears sheet, a PMVBRY baseline/additional-employment sheet and a VISHWAS case-and-interest sheet.
4. Resolve identity and banking gaps. Check Aadhaar, UAN, KYC, employee bank seeding, employer PAN and PAN-linked bank details.
5. Review pending proceedings. Map every notice, order, appeal, recovery certificate, deposit and payment before choosing VISHWAS.
6. Estimate the cash requirement. EEC may reduce damages dramatically, but contribution, interest and charges can still be material.
7. File early. Portal validation, UAN generation, DSC/eSign and payment reconciliation can take time. Do not treat the final date as the working date.
8. Retain a defensible audit trail. Preserve calculations, employee confirmations, payment evidence, acknowledgements and board/management approvals.

Do not overlook contract and outsourced workers

An establishment's review should not stop at its direct payroll. Compare contractor bills, deployment sheets, gate or attendance records, wage registers, principal-employer records and contractor ECR evidence. Where coverage responsibility or remittance proof is unclear, resolve the worker-level facts before filing. Duplicate enrolment, missing service history and unsupported assumptions about contractor compliance can distort both the EEC liability and the establishment's PMVBRY employment data.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming ₹100 settles the complete EEC liability.
• Including employees who had already exited before the EEC declaration.
• Treating every EEC enrolment as automatically eligible for PMVBRY.
• Counting gross hiring without testing net additional employment against the PMVBRY baseline.
• Ignoring the six-month retention requirement for employer benefits.
• Applying for VISHWAS before paying the entire applicable statutory interest.
• Withdrawing or compromising litigation without reconciling deposits, recoveries and undertaking requirements.
• Waiting until the closing date to generate UANs, correct KYC or activate DSC/eSign.

Frequently asked questions

Can an employer use more than one of these schemes?

Potentially yes, because each addresses a different issue. An establishment may need EEC for omitted enrolment, PMVBRY for qualifying additional jobs and VISHWAS for eligible legacy damages. Eligibility and calculations must be established separately.

Does EEC-2026 waive the employee contribution in every case?

No. The official relief applies where the employee share was not deducted from wages during the left-out period. If amounts were deducted or the facts differ, obtain case-specific advice before declaration.

Is PMVBRY Part B based on every new employee hired?

No. It is based on eligible net additional employment above the prescribed baseline and threshold, with wage, ECR, retention and establishment conditions.

Does VISHWAS waive Section 7Q interest?

No. Full applicable statutory interest must be remitted before a VISHWAS application can be made.

Can a case already fully recovered be reopened under VISHWAS?

No. The official release excludes cases where damages or penalty have already been fully recovered.

Where should applications be filed?

EEC-2026 and VISHWAS use the EPFO Employer Portal. PMVBRY claims and eligibility depend on the scheme's EPFO/ECR process and prescribed digital records. Use only official portals and keep DSC/eSign access ready.

Official sources and further reading

• Press Information Bureau: Employees' Enrolment Campaign (EEC), 2026
• Official PMVBRY portal: guidelines, scheme documents and FAQs
• Press Information Bureau: VISHWAS, 2026 settlement framework
• EPFO Employer Portal

Act on the opportunity—but file only after a complete reconciliation

EEC-2026 can regularise eligible omitted enrolments at nominal damages, PMVBRY can support qualifying first-time workers and sustained job creation, and VISHWAS can reduce the cost and duration of eligible legacy disputes. The benefit is real, but so is the need for precise data. Payroll, UAN, ECR, contribution, interest, baseline, retention and litigation records should agree before any declaration or undertaking is submitted.

If your establishment has received an EPFO communication, discovered missed remittances or is unsure which route applies, do not ignore it and do not rush into an incomplete filing. Connect with a verified TaxFetch CA Expert for a structured review, or compare the available consultation plans. Existing TaxFetch clients can manage their expert consultation securely through the e-CA platform.

Disclaimer: This article is an educational summary based on official materials available on the publication date. Scheme eligibility depends on the notified rules, portal validations and establishment-specific facts. It is not a substitute for a legal opinion or professional review. Verify current deadlines and instructions on the official EPFO/PMVBRY portals before acting.