NEW DELHI: Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation is readying the framework to provide social security to millions employed in the unorganised sector and exempted establishments, gig workers and people who are self-employed – presently not part of its network – allowing them to deduct a part of their income for a universal provident fund scheme.The accumulation phase is modelled on the present EPFO model, where the new subscribers will have the flexibility to contribute daily or annually, with the corpus earning annual interest and enjoying similar tax benefits. This means complete exemption for annual contribution up to 2.5 lakh with interest on it also exempt from tax. The withdrawal phase is where the retirement savings agency is planning a revamp, with subscribers allowed to retain the corpus with EPFO even at the time of retirement – a facility that can be extended to existing subscribers as well. Under the proposed model, the new set of subscribers may be given the option to ch-oose a systematic withdrawal plan mechanism, giving them the flexibility to decide on the payout, which can be front-loaded or back-ended, an official told TOI. The agency has studied models such as those in Singapore to help work out the basic framework. The scheme will be completely funded by individuals, unlike PM Shram Yogi Maandhan Yojana, where Centre chips in with a 50% contribution for pension. The move comes at a time when labour ministry is seeking to ensure retirement savings beyond the present EPFO net, which covers those working in establishments with over 20 workers. While EPFO has not been given the official mandate yet, the agency has floated a tender to design and develop an IT architecture that serves the purpose. As part of implementation of new labour codes, govt has mandated platforms such as taxi aggregators or delivery apps to register their workers on a portal. If EPFO scheme goes through, someone working as a freelance consultant, for instance, can also plan for her retirement by co-ntributing to the new model.“The new code on social security provides for govt to ensure that everyone has access to some form of social coverage. The discussions are in initial phase and a number of models prevalent across the world are being examined. It will be a self-financing model, with no budgetary support used,” the official said.
