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The Ministry of Labour and Employment has published corrigenda to the three social security schemes notified on 29 June 2026. Most of the corrections are typographical. Three are substantive, and all three concern International Workers and overseas postings. A corrigendum of 19 August 2026 separately corrects the compounding notification under the Code on Wages, 2019. Since a corrigendum forms part of the instrument it corrects, each of these positions applies from the date of the original notification.
The Employees’ Provident Funds Scheme, 2026, as published on 29 June 2026, omitted a rule that had been part of the 1952 Scheme since 2008: that International Workers contribute on full wages, without the statutory ceiling. The corrigendum G.S.R. 703(E) restores it in two places.
Paragraph 2(1)(f)(i), the definition of an excluded employee, now reads “an employee other than the International Worker whose wage … exceeds wage ceiling”. An International Worker therefore cannot fall outside membership by reason of wages above Rs 15,000. Paragraph 18(3), which subjects contributions to the wage ceiling, now applies “in respect of a member other than international workers”. Both shares for an International Worker are accordingly payable on wages as defined in Section 2(88) of the Code, with no cap.
First, the base is the statutory wage definition, applied without the ceiling. It is the same definition that governs every other member, including its exclusions and the fifty per cent rule; it is not gross salary or cost to company. Employers who have continued to contribute for International Workers on the old full monthly pay basis should move to the Section 2(88) base, which in most structures will be narrower.
Second, because the corrigendum corrects the text from its inception, the position applies from 29 June 2026. Employers who had capped International Worker contributions at the ceiling on the strength of the June text should review the period from that date.
Who is an International Worker is unchanged: a foreign passport holder working for a covered establishment in India, or an Indian employee posted to a country with which India has a social security agreement and eligible for benefits there.
Inbound employees holding a valid detachment certificate from an agreement country, and employees covered by the pre-2008 India-Singapore arrangement, remain excluded from contribution in India for the relevant period. Nepalese and Bhutanese nationals are treated as Indian employees.
Paragraph 9(6) of the Scheme requires an employee working in a country listed in the table to that paragraph, at present the United Kingdom alone, who wishes to take the benefit of detachment under the bilateral agreement on social security contributions, to contribute with the employer on total wages as defined in the Code, without the ceiling.
As published, the paragraph opened with the words “In case of an International Worker”. The corrigendum deletes those words. The rule now applies to any employee who elects UK detachment.
The practical effect is on outbound Indian employees. An employee posted to the United Kingdom who obtains a Certificate of Coverage from the EPFO and remains on the Indian system is not an International Worker, and would ordinarily have continued on capped contribution.
For the United Kingdom, that is no longer the position: such an employee is on uncapped contribution for the duration of the posting, reverting to the standard basis on repatriation. Paragraph 18(3) is expressly made subject to paragraph 9(6) to the same effect.
Payroll rules for UK postings should carry a separate indicator for detached employees, independent of International Worker status, and should be built so that further countries can be added if the table is expanded.
Employers who contribute above the ceiling for domestic employees have been waiting on this corrigendum for a possible answer on whether such contributions can be stepped down to the ceiling. It gives none.
Paragraph 9(4), the joint written option to contribute above the ceiling, is unchanged and still contains no mechanism for withdrawal. Paragraph 19, on additional voluntary contributions, is unchanged.
The only related edit tidies the wording of paragraph 18(3) so that it reads “the employer’s contribution and the employees’ contribution shall be limited to the contribution payable on the wage ceiling”, which confirms that the cap operates on both shares together and adds nothing on reduction. Our advice on that question stands as previously communicated.
The balance of G.S.R. 703(E) corrects cross-references, renumbers the sub-paragraphs of paragraph 24 on employers’ duties, closes a gap in the damages table so that a default of exactly four months is now covered by the 0.50 per cent rate, and corrects names and dates. None of these alters any obligation.
G.S.R. 704(E) corrects the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 2026, and G.S.R. 705(E) corrects the Employees’ Deposit-Linked Insurance Scheme, 2026.
In the Pension Scheme, a reference to “pay” becomes “wages” and a reference to “wage ceiling” becomes “wage ceiling period”, both aligning the text with the defined terms.
In the Insurance Scheme, the benefit computation now refers expressly to balances held in a provident fund exempted under Section 143 of the Code, confirming that accumulations in an exempted trust count towards the insurance benefit in the same way as balances with the EPFO.
In both schemes, the phrase “by way of penalty” is deleted from the damages provision, so that all three schemes now describe the levy for default uniformly as damages. The remaining entries are typographical.
The notification of 12 May 2026 (S.O. 2455(E)) designating officers to compound offences under Section 56 of the Code on Wages, 2019, described their power as extending to offences “punishable with imprisonment only, or with imprisonment and also with fine”. That inverted the Code, which permits compounding of every offence except those.
S.O. 4573(E), dated 19 August 2026, corrects the text so that the designated officers may compound any offence under the Code on Wages other than one punishable with imprisonment, with or without fine.
The corrected text applies from 12 May 2026; any internal reference material quoting the earlier wording should be updated.
Confirm that contributions for International Workers are computed on Section 2(88) wages without the ceiling, and that no International Worker has been treated as an excluded employee or capped at the ceiling since 29 June 2026.
Identify employees on detachment to the United Kingdom, including those holding a Certificate of Coverage, and move them to uncapped contribution for the posting period.
Where an EDLI benefit is computed for an employee of an exempted establishment, include the trust balance in the computation.
The contents of this article is for information purposes only and nothing in this article should be construed as legal advice.