The old formula that decided how much PF gets sliced out of your salary every month has just been rewritten. The central government has notified the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme 2026 under the Social Security Code, 2020, and it has already come into force from 29 June 2026. With decades-old PF deduction rules being overhauled, one question is running through the mind of every salaried person: will the money that lands in my hand each month go up or down?
Until now the rule was straightforward. Both the employee and the company had to deposit 12% each of the employee's basic salary and dearness allowance (DA) into the PF account. That meant the bigger your salary, the bigger the PF cut. The new scheme flips this entirely. From now on, only a mandatory contribution of ₹1,800-₹1,800 per month has been fixed for EPF. If an employee or a company wishes to put in more than that voluntarily, they are free to do so.
What It Means For Your Take-Home Salary
According to Suraj Singh, a chartered accountant and founder of SD Singh & Associates, if you were earlier having more than ₹1,800 cut every month and the mandatory limit has now dropped to just ₹1,800, the deduction from your salary will automatically fall. In that case, if you do not opt for extra voluntary PF on your own, your in-hand salary will go up. However, all of this depends entirely on how your CTC structure is built.
The Math Explained With An Example
Suppose an employee has a basic salary of ₹50,000 per month. Under the old rule, both the employee and the company deposited ₹6,000-₹6,000 at 12% each, meaning a total of ₹12,000 went into the account every month. Under the new system, the mandatory contribution will be only ₹1,800-₹1,800, so just ₹3,600 will now be deposited each month. From the salary point of view, the ₹4,200 (₹6,000 – ₹1,800) that used to be cut from the employee's share and sent to PF will now stay with them and can push up their take-home pay.
Which Employees Will Feel The Biggest Change
The sharpest effect of this change will be felt by high-salary employees with a large basic pay. A big chunk of their PF will now shift from the mandatory category into the voluntary one. On the other hand, employees whose salary is already low and whose PF contribution worked out to around ₹1,800 anyway will see little to no real impact from the new arrangement.
More Cash Now, But A Word Of Caution
More cash in hand every month may sound appealing, but many experts see it as a long-term loss. Expert Pranav Sai S has warned that if the money meant for EPF starts reaching employees as extra salary, it could directly hit their retirement savings down the line. Lower EPF contributions combined with the shrinking benefit of compounding could make the fund available at retirement significantly smaller.
