What is the PF and ESI due date each month?

What do PF and ESI contributions cover?

Provident fund and ESI are two separate social security contributions, run by two separate bodies. Provident fund sits with the EPFO under the EPF and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and is a retirement contribution deducted from wages and matched by the employer, at 12 per cent each on basic wages plus dearness allowance up to the Rs 15,000 wage ceiling. ESI sits with ESIC and funds medical and cash benefits for employees on monthly wages up to Rs 21,000, or Rs 25,000 for a person with disability, a limit effective from 1 January 2017.

They are grouped together in practice because a payroll team deals with both every month and because both share a similar monthly rhythm. But their coverage, wage limits and portals differ, so treat them as two obligations that happen to share a calendar rather than one combined filing.

When is the PF and ESI due date?

Both contributions are due within fifteen days of the close of the wage month, which lands on the 15th in an ordinary month. Paragraph 38 of the EPF Scheme, 1952 sets that period for provident fund. The ESIC contribution page sets the same fifteen days from the last day of the calendar month in which the contribution falls due.

The 15th is the ordinary date, not a permanent guarantee. EPFO and ESIC have moved dates in specific situations through their own circulars. Match any relief to the notification that grants it.

What are the PF and ESI contribution rates?

Provident fund runs at 12 per cent of basic wages plus dearness allowance from the employee and 12 per cent from the employer, with the employer share split across EPF, the Employees' Pension Scheme and EDLI. ESI runs at 0.75 per cent of wages from the employee and 3.25 per cent from the employer, both effective from 1 July 2019. An employee on an average daily wage up to Rs 176 pays no ESI contribution, while the employer still pays its own share.

Is the PF ECR a return?

The electronic challan cum return is both, which is why provident fund has one monthly deadline rather than two. The ECR carries the member-wise contribution detail and generates the challan, and EPFO launched a revamped ECR for the September 2025 wage month onwards through its compliance circular dated 26 September 2025. For ESI, the contribution is paid through the ESIC portal and the system captures the contribution detail for the period.

Who handles PF for contract workers?

The principal employer remains answerable for contract workers' provident fund. Paragraph 36-B of the EPF Scheme, 1952 requires every contractor to submit a statement of contribution recoveries to the principal employer within seven days of the close of every month, which leaves about a week to reconcile before the fifteen-day payment date.

Beyond the monthly cycle, both systems have periodic and event-based actions, such as employee onboarding and exit updates. Those are separate from the monthly contribution and follow their own portal processes, so do not fold them into the monthly due-date question.

What does late PF deposit cost?

A late provident fund deposit costs 12 per cent simple interest a year plus 1 per cent of the arrears per month in damages. Those are two separate charges on the same default:

• Interest under section 7Q of the EPF and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952: simple interest at 12 per cent per annum on any amount due, from the date the amount became payable.
• Damages under section 14B, quantified by paragraph 32A of the EPF Scheme, 1952 at 1 per cent of the arrear of contribution per month or part of a month. G.S.R. 329(E) dated 14 June 2024 replaced the earlier slab table of 5, 10, 15 and 25 per cent a year with that flat rate.
• ESI late deposit attracts interest for the delayed period, recovered by ESIC for the months in default.
• The tax effect: late deposit of the employee's contribution can cost the deduction for that amount, a cost on top of the labour-law one.

Damages can be reduced or waived only in the narrow cases paragraph 32B lists, such as a sick industrial company before the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction. In ordinary cases the reduction ceiling is 50 per cent, and it is discretionary.

How do I confirm the PF due date?

1. Take the wage month and add the ordinary 15th-of-next-month target.
2. Read paragraph 38 of the EPF Scheme, 1952 for the fifteen-day PF period, and the ESIC contribution page for the ESI period and the 0.75 / 3.25 per cent rates.
3. Check the EPFO circulars and ESIC notices for any change to the timeline or the damages rate.
4. Complete the challan and confirm acceptance before the 15th, keeping the acknowledgement.
5. Reconcile the deducted amounts with the deposited amounts each month.

Which PF and ESI errors cost employers?

• Treating PF and ESI as one filing and missing that the EPF ceiling is Rs 15,000 while the ESI limit is Rs 21,000.
• Preparing the return but not confirming the payment cleared before the due date.
• Ignoring the tax effect of depositing the employee's contribution late.
• Assuming a past extension applies to the current month.
• Quoting the retired 5 to 25 per cent damages slabs instead of the flat 1 per cent a month set by G.S.R. 329(E) of 14 June 2024.
• Accepting a contractor's word instead of the paragraph 36-B statement due within seven days of month end.

Where do EPFO and ESIC circulars appear?

PF and ESI rates and processes move through EPFO circulars and Ministry of Labour and Employment gazette notifications, which is how the damages rate changed in June 2024. Complied AI keeps regulatory updates in one feed so you can open the source notice behind a change instead of relying on an old payroll note.