There was a threefold rise in subscribers to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation in May compared to the previous month, according to provisional data released by the EPFO.

An NDTV report, citing the Ministry of Labour, stated that the EPFO witnessed an addition of 3.18 lakh new members in May.

The figures grew despite the coronavirus-induced lockdown. The figure stood at around one lakh in April.

The data revealed by the ministry comprised all new members who joined in May and whose contribution was received.

As per the provisional payroll data published by the EPFO on Monday, the month-on-month increase in subscribers stood at a whopping 218 per cent.

The Ministry added in its statement, cited by The Hindu, that despite the lockdown, which was imposed in late March, around 1 lakh net new subscribers were added to social security schemes of the EPFO in April 2020.

The Ministry further said that the subscriber base growth is on account of the increased number of new subscribers, lower exits, and higher re-joining by exited members.

“The new subscriber joining has increased roughly by 66 per cent from 1.67 lakh in April to 2.79 lakh in May. In addition, the exits from the subscriber base declined by nearly 20 per cent from 2.97 lakh in April to 2.36 lakh in May,” it noted.