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By:

Sumit Ranjan Das

21 August 2024 at 4:08:59 pm

EPFO’s Big Wage-Band Reset

Twelve years is a long time for a wage ceiling to remain unchanged. The last revision came in September 2014, when the limit was raised from Rs.6,500 to Rs.15,000. Last week, the Union Cabinet approved another increase, taking the ceiling to Rs.25,000 a month with effect from 17 September 2026. The government’s estimate is that more than 51 lakh additional employees will come within mandatory EPFO coverage as a result of the change. For employers and payroll professionals, however, the...

EPFO’s Big Wage-Band Reset

Twelve years is a long time for a wage ceiling to remain unchanged. The last revision came in September 2014, when the limit was raised from Rs.6,500 to Rs.15,000. Last week, the Union Cabinet approved another increase, taking the ceiling to Rs.25,000 a month with effect from 17 September 2026. The government’s estimate is that more than 51 lakh additional employees will come within mandatory EPFO coverage as a result of the change. For employers and payroll professionals, however, the headline number is only the starting point. The more important questions are who will be covered, which wages will be taken into account and how the revised provisions will be implemented. Wage Ceiling The existing wage ceiling of Rs.15,000 a month is being raised by Rs.10,000, or 66.7 percent, to Rs.25,000. The change takes effect from 17 September 2026 and marks the first revision since September 2014. The government expects more than 51 lakh additional employees to be covered. Estimated expenditure is about Rs.56,696 crore over five years, while annual government outgo is expected to rise to approximately Rs.11,339 crore. The standard contribution remains 12 percent each from the employee and employer, subject to applicable provisions. The Cabinet said the decision will expand access to provident-fund savings, pension protection under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) and insurance protection under the Employees’ Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme (EDLI), in accordance with the applicable scheme provisions. The wage ceiling is not merely an administrative threshold. It determines the point at which mandatory EPF coverage applies under the existing framework. At present, a fresh employee joining employment at wages above Rs.15,000 a month is not automatically brought within mandatory EPF coverage and may remain outside mandatory provident-fund, pension and associated insurance protection, subject to applicable statutory provisions. The revised ceiling will bring a substantial section of employees earning between Rs.15,000 and Rs.25,000 within the mandatory coverage framework. The government has also quantified the fiscal impact. The estimated expenditure is about Rs.56,696 crore over five years, while annual government outgo is expected to rise to approximately Rs.11,339 crore, compared with existing annual budgetary support of about Rs.10,250 crore. The Labour Ministry has linked the revision to sustained wage growth, rising incomes and the continued expansion of formal employment since the previous revision in 2014. Payroll Illustration Consider an employee earning Rs.22,000 a month who becomes subject to mandatory coverage under the revised ceiling. At the standard 12 percent contribution rate, if the full eligible wage is used as the contribution base, the employee’s contribution would rise from Rs.1,800 to Rs.2,640 a month, while the employer’s contribution would similarly rise from Rs.1,800 to Rs.2,640. Total monthly contributions would therefore increase from Rs.3,600 to Rs.5,280 — a combined increase of Rs.1,680. However, this should not be treated simply as Rs.1,680 of additional employee savings. Contributions are allocated between EPF and EPS components as prescribed, with the EPF component accumulating in the employee’s account and the EPS component providing pension benefits subject to scheme conditions. The Rs.22,000 example is illustrative, not a universal payroll formula. The final treatment of wage components, existing employees in this band, EPS allocation and transitional matters will depend on the statutory notification and EPFO implementation instructions. For payroll professionals, the immediate task is to assess the operational impact. Key questions include the effective date for existing employees and new joiners, which wage components will count towards PF, whether the 10 percent concessional rate for notified establishments will continue, how the revised ceiling will interact with EPS pensionable wages, and what changes will be required in payroll systems. The Cabinet approval establishes the policy decision; the formal Gazette notification and EPFO instructions will determine how it is translated into payroll processes. The revised ceiling is the first increase since September 2014 and is expected to bring more than 51 lakh additional employees, particularly those in the Rs.15,000-Rs.25,000 wage band, under mandatory EPFO coverage. For them, the change can expand access to provident-fund savings, EPS pension and EDLI insurance, subject to scheme provisions. For employers, it means reviewing payroll costs, employee data, eligible wage components, contribution calculations and compliance systems. The government has described the move as part of efforts to extend statutory social security and strengthen formal employment. The policy has been announced. For payroll professionals, the next chapter is implementation. (The writer is a Cost and Management Accountant and founder of TaxoDas. Views personal

Why are cinema writers marginalised in awards?

Writer: Shoma A. Chatterji
Shoma A. Chatterji
Aug 21, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Oct 21, 2024

There is a need to promote and encourage the best writers who put light on the cinemas


Why are cinema writers marginalised in awards

The 70 th Annual National Awards for films, actors, music directors and technicians in 2022 were declared on August 16. The Awards are decided by a jury chosen carefully by the members of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the basis of these members’ track record and experience in the film industry. There is a section on Feature Films in the national category and then there are Best Feature films in regional languages. There is also a section in non-fiction or documentary films classified into many sections which is very beneficial for relative newcomers and documentary filmmakers whose films are open only in film festivals.

There is one more category known as the Best Writing on Cinema. This is divided into two segments – The Best Book on Cinema and The Best Writing on Cinema with a separate expert jury. All Indian regional languages including English entries can be submitted by entrants. While the Best Book on Cinema is chosen from entries of entire books on cinema entered by authors, the Best Writing on Cinema is for a collection of published articles published with the byline of the journalists and clippings of the published articles during the year prior to the award. Best Writing on Indian Cinema in both sections are awarded with Swarna Kamal (Golden Lotus).

Though the National Awards for different sections of cinema began in 1954, the Writing awards began in 1981 at the 29th National Film Awards However, the media pays scant attention to the Best Writing Awards and as a result, many brilliant journalists and authors specializing in cinema do not send their entries for selection. The time-span between media announcement of entries and the last date is so marginal that many writers miss out on sending in their entries. Surprisingly, several filmmakers have bagged the National Award for the Best Writing on Cinema in the Best Books section. Among them are Adoor Gopalakrishnan (Cinemayude Lokam) in Malayalam in 1983, veteran actress Bhanumathi Ramakrishna (Naalo Nenu) in Telugu, noted actor Bharath Gopi for the book Abhinava Anibhavan in Malayalam in 1993.

The first award for journalistic articles in the same “Best Writing on Cinema” was begun in the year 1984 and the award went to Swapan Mullick who was then in an editorial position in The Statesman in Kolkata. The following year, the award went to the famous veteran writer, journalist and filmmaker Chidananda Dasgupta. Joshy Joseph, a national-award-winning filmmaker of documentary films, bagged this award in writing on cinema in 2010.

Very few eminent journalists have bagged these two awards under the Best Writing on Cinema mainly because it lacks publicity, media coverage and so on. Fewer journalists have bagged both the awards in this category – for the Best Book and for the Best Articles on Cinema in previous years. Among them is Manmohan Singh Chadda who won both awards for the Best Book on Cinema and for the Best Film Critic in Hindi. He still involves in research on cinema.

This writer is the only woman who has won both awards, the Best Articles in 1990 and for the Best Book on Cinema in English in 2002. This section demands more media coverage and a longer span for entry into the competition which has great jury members and the awards, as far as I know, is completely free of political interference.

(The writer is a film enthusiast. The views are personal.)

 
 
 

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