Single form soon for firms to enrol with EPFO, ESIC

Companies will soon have to fill just a single common form to enrol themselves with retirement fund body EPFO and state insurer ESIC.

The government is planning to introduce this common registration form soon and the basic idea is to make the job easier for firms by cutting down layers of paperwork they go through for the process of registration.

"We are working on a single composite form for registration with the Employees' Provident Fund organisation (EPFO) and the Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) which will be used by employers," a senior official said.

This form is expected to reduce the tedious work of filling multiple forms for registering with these two social security bodies and improve ease of doing business.

The schemes run by EPFO and ESIC provide mandatory cover to formal sector workers in the country.

The firms with 20 or more employees are required to register with EPFO while this ceiling is 10 or more in the case of ESIC.

The EPFO runs three social security schemes -- Employees Provident Fund Scheme, 1952, Employees Pension Scheme, 1995, and Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976.

Similarly, ESIC provides mandatory health cover to formal sector workers and facility of cashless health treatment.

EPFO has a subscriber base of over 4 crore while ESIC has 2 crore insured persons and covers a population of around 8 crore people under its health insurance.

According to the latest World Bank report, India was ranked at 130th out of 190 in ease of doing business. The government is working on all the 10 parameters to improve its ranking. It aims to break into top 50.

The parameters in question are starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.