PM-VBRY calculator: eligibility, employer and employee incentive
For employers (Part B)
Is your business registered with EPFO, with its own PF code and a PAN?
Do you file the monthly ECR and pay PF on time, every month?
If you registered with EPFO before August 2025: did you file every ECR, with contributions, from August 2024 (or your registration) to July 2025?
Is an EPFO inquiry under Section 7A, 7B or 7C or Para 26B pending against you, or an order under appeal or not yet complied with?
Has EPFO filed an FIR against you, or is an inquiry into irregularities under ABRY or another scheme pending or decided against you?
Will you add at least 2 employees above your baseline (5 if your baseline is 50 or more), and keep them?
Will the new hires be first-time EPF members, or re-joinees whose UAN is Aadhaar-authenticated?
Will each hire's gross wages at joining be ₹1 lakh a month or less?
Will the hires stay at least 6 months?
Have you opted in on the EPFO Unified Portal with your PAN, GSTIN and PAN-linked bank account?
Is your business a manufacturer, as defined in Section 2(72) of the CGST Act and shown on your GST registration?
For employees (Part A)
Did (or will) the employee join between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2027?
Is this their first job with PF, with no EPF contribution ever paid before?
Are their gross wages at joining ₹1 lakh a month or less?
Was their UAN generated or authenticated through Face Authentication on the UMANG app?
Is their bank account seeded with Aadhaar?
Does the employer file ECRs with contributions every month?
Will they stay with the same employer for at least 12 months?
Will they complete the financial literacy course on the EPFO portal?
Your establishment
Work out my baseline from 12 monthly ECRs
Enter the number of employees on each ECR. Leave months before your EPFO registration blank.
Baseline is fixed at 20 for new establishments.
New hires since August 2025, actual and planned
One row per group hired in the same month on similar pay. Add your replacements too, because they count in headcount. Assumes each joins on or before the 5th of the month. Joining months run from August 2025 to July 2027, the window the scheme covers.
The scheme in one table
| Part A: first-time employees | Part B: employers | |
|---|---|---|
| Who gets it | The employee, by DBT to an Aadhaar-seeded bank account | The establishment, by DBT to its PAN-linked bank account |
| Who qualifies | First-time EPF members joining 1 Aug 2025 – 31 Jul 2027, gross wages up to ₹1 lakh, UAN face-authenticated on UMANG | EPFO-registered establishments that hire above their baseline: at least +2 (baseline under 50) or +5 (baseline 50 or more), and hold it |
| How much | One month's EPF wage, capped at ₹15,000 | Per net new job per month: 10% of EPF wage below ₹10,000 (so ₹1,000 at ₹10,000); ₹2,000 for ₹10,001–₹20,000; ₹3,000 above ₹20,000 |
| For how long | One-time, in two instalments | 24 months per net new job (48 months for manufacturers), from the month it is first paid |
| When it's paid | 1st instalment after 6 months of paid ECRs; 2nd after 12 months and the financial literacy course | First lump sum after the first 6 months; monthly after that, with a true-up each cycle |
| Main catch | Leaving before 12 months forfeits the 2nd instalment | Paid only on net additional jobs: hires that replace leavers don't add to it |
PM-VBRY eligibility criteria
Employer (Part B) must…
- Be covered by the EPF & MP Act, 1952, with a PF code and a PAN. Codes under one PAN count as one establishment.
- File the ECR with contributions every month. For existing establishments, file every ECR from August 2024 (or registration) to July 2025, which was due by 31 January 2026.
- Opt in on the EPFO Unified Portal with PAN, GSTIN and a PAN-linked bank account.
- Raise its average headcount to baseline + 2 (baseline under 50) or baseline + 5 (baseline 50 or more), and keep it there on the rolling average.
- Have no pending EPFO inquiry under Sections 7A/7B/7C or Para 26B, no unpaid or appealed order, no EPFO FIR, and no ABRY irregularity.
A hire counts for the employer if they…
- Joined between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2027.
- Are a first-time EPF member, or a re-joinee whose UAN is Aadhaar-authenticated (biometric or face).
- Had gross wages of ₹1 lakh a month or less at joining.
- Have at least 6 months of employee and employer contributions received.
Anyone else, including hires over ₹1 lakh and people who join after July 2027, still counts in your headcount. They earn no incentive.
An employee (Part A) must…
- Join between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2027 and never have contributed to EPF (EPFO or an exempted trust) before.
- Have gross wages of ₹1 lakh a month or less at joining.
- Have a UAN authenticated through Face Authentication on the UMANG app, and an Aadhaar-seeded bank account.
- Stay with the same employer for 6 continuous months (1st instalment) and 12 months (2nd instalment), with ECRs filed within 18 months of joining.
- Complete EPFO's financial literacy course before the 2nd instalment.
Your baseline is…
- Registered before 1 Aug 2024: the average number of employees on your ECRs for August 2024 to July 2025.
- Registered 1 Aug 2024 – 31 Jul 2025: the average for all your months up to July 2025.
- Registered from 1 Aug 2025: fixed at 20, the headcount at which EPF registration becomes compulsory.
Averages are rounded to the nearest whole number. Employees whose contribution wasn't paid still count towards the baseline. The baseline was frozen six months after the scheme started, though revised ECRs filed in that window could raise it.
Want a CFO to plan your hiring around PM-VBRY?
We rebuild your baseline from past ECRs, model hiring and attrition, and put the incentive into your cash forecast. Free first review.
How EPFO calculates the employer incentive, step by step
Find your target headcount
Baseline + 2, or baseline + 5 if your baseline is 50 or more. The first month your ECR headcount reaches it is month 1 of your incentive clock.
Pass the rolling-average test every month
For months 1–6, the average of those six months must reach the target. For months 7–12, the average from month 1 to the current month. From month 13, the average of the last 12 months. In any month you fail, the incentive is zero, and the clock doesn't stop.
Count qualifying hires
New joiners (1 Aug 2025 – 31 Jul 2027) who are first timers or authenticated re-joinees, earned up to ₹1 lakh gross at joining, and have 6 months of paid contributions.
Work out net additional employment
The lower of (total headcount − baseline) and the number of qualifying hires. If old employees leave, your net additional jobs fall even though you hired.
Multiply by the average slab
Each qualifying hire's slab is set on the EPF wage of their first completed wage month. The month's incentive is the average slab of qualifying hires × net additional jobs.
Apply each job's 24- or 48-month clock
Each net additional job is paid for 24 months (48 for manufacturers) from the month it is first paid. Months lost to a failed threshold aren't added back. A replacement hire continues the remaining period of the job they fill.
EPFO calculates all of this itself from your ECRs. You don't file a claim. But if you know the method, you can plan hires so they actually earn the incentive, and check that you've been paid the right amount.
Worked example: a manufacturer with a baseline of 46
This is the default plan in the calculator above. A Coimbatore pump manufacturer averaged 46 employees on its ECRs from August 2024 to July 2025. Its baseline is 46, so it needs 48. It had 47 people on the July 2025 ECR, and about 3 of them leave each year. PF is paid on wages up to the statutory ceiling.
| Joined | People | Who | EPF wage | Slab |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 4 | First-time machine operators, basic ₹13,000 | ₹13,000 | ₹2,000 |
| Jan 2026 | 2 | Re-joinee fitters, basic ₹22,000 (PF capped at ₹15,000 then) | ₹15,000 | ₹2,000 |
| Mar 2026 | 1 | Design engineer, gross ₹1.3 lakh | – | Not eligible |
| Nov 2026 | 3 | First-time CNC programmers, basic ₹21,000 (₹25,000 ceiling now) | ₹21,000 | ₹3,000 |
- September 2025: headcount 51. Net additional jobs = lower of (51 − 46 = 5) and 4 qualifying hires = 4. Incentive = 4 × ₹2,000 = ₹8,000.
- January 2026: one old employee has left, so headcount is 52. Net additional = lower of 6 and 6 = 6. Incentive ₹12,000. The engineer who joins in March adds to headcount but not to the incentive.
- August 2026: another old employee leaves. Headcount 51, so net additional = 5 and the incentive drops to ₹10,000. The six hires are all still there, but one of them now only replaces a leaver.
- November 2026: three CNC programmers join. Nine qualifying hires, with an average slab of (4 × 2,000 + 2 × 2,000 + 3 × 3,000) ÷ 9 = ₹2,333. Headcount 54 − 46 = 8 net additional, so ₹18,667 that month.
- Over the whole period: about ₹4.26 lakh as a manufacturer, earned until March 2029. A non-manufacturer with the same hiring would get about ₹3.05 lakh, ending in November 2027.
The biggest leak is attrition: every old employee who leaves without a replacement removes one paid job. Change "leave each year" to 0 in the calculator and watch the total rise.
How the ₹15,000 first-timer incentive is paid
A first timer's incentive is one month's EPF wage, capped at ₹15,000, paid in two parts:
- 1st instalment: half the average EPF wage of the first six completed wage months, up to ₹7,500. Paid after the employer files six months of ECRs with contributions.
- 2nd instalment: the average EPF wage of 12 completed months, capped at ₹15,000, minus the first instalment. Paid after 12 months of ECRs (filed within 18 months of joining) and the financial literacy course. It is held in a savings instrument or deposit account for a period the Ministry will notify.
The first completed wage month is the joining month if the employee joins on or before the 5th, otherwise the next month. If they join between the 2nd and the 5th, the first month's EPF wage covers only the days worked. The calculator accounts for this.
Examples: on PF wages of ₹12,000 a month, the employee gets ₹6,000 + ₹6,000 = ₹12,000. On ₹15,000 or more, they get the full ₹7,500 + ₹7,500 = ₹15,000. If they leave after eight months, they keep the first ₹7,500 and lose the second, even if they join another employer.
What the ₹25,000 PF wage ceiling changes
On 17 September 2026 the Ministry of Labour & Employment raised the EPF wage ceiling from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000 a month. The PM-VBRY slab is based on the EPF wage, the wage on which PF is actually paid. So the ceiling directly affects what you earn:
| Basic + DA | EPF wage, ceiling ₹15,000 | Slab | EPF wage, ceiling ₹25,000 | Slab |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ₹18,000 | ₹15,000 | ₹2,000 | ₹18,000 | ₹2,000 |
| ₹22,000 | ₹15,000 | ₹2,000 | ₹22,000 | ₹3,000 |
| ₹40,000 | ₹15,000 | ₹2,000 | ₹25,000 | ₹3,000 |
The slab is fixed on the EPF wage of the hire's first completed wage month. Hires whose first month was before September 2026 stay in the slab they started in. September 2026 itself is split: the first 16 days use the ₹15,000 ceiling and the last 14 days use ₹25,000. Part A doesn't change: the cap is still ₹15,000. EPFO's FAQs point out that the higher PF cost on wages between ₹15,000 and ₹25,000 can be partly offset by this incentive. If you pay PF on full wages, the ceiling doesn't limit your slab.
Eight mistakes that cost employers the incentive
1. Hiring to replace, not to add
The incentive follows net headcount. If old staff leave, new hires only fill the gap. Plan hiring against your baseline, not against last month.
2. Missing or unpaid ECRs
A month without a paid ECR breaks the 6-month count for your hires and can cost the month's incentive.
3. UANs not face-authenticated
New UANs are generated through Face Authentication on UMANG. Re-joinees need an Aadhaar-authenticated UAN. Without it, the hire doesn't count.
4. Staff kept off PF
Only employees on your own ECR count, for headcount and for the incentive. Workers on a contractor's PF code count for the contractor's establishment, not yours.
5. A dip in the rolling average
A seasonal layoff can pull the average below target, and those months are lost for good. The clock keeps running.
6. PF on less than ₹10,000
Below ₹10,000 the incentive is only 10% of the EPF wage. Structuring pay so PF wages reach ₹10,001 lifts it to ₹2,000.
7. Not opting in
Existing establishments are deemed registered, but EPFO pays only after you add PAN, GSTIN and a PAN-linked bank account on the Unified Portal.
8. Booking it as untaxed
The guidelines make the incentive taxable unless the government exempts it. Account for it as income in the year it accrues, and agree the treatment with your auditor.
How to get paid: step by step
Log in to the EPFO Unified Portal (employer)
Choose the PM-VBRY option and enter your PAN, GSTIN and a PAN-linked bank account. If you have several PF codes under one PAN, nominate one bank account for the group.
Check your baseline
EPFO computes it from your August 2024 – July 2025 ECRs. Reconcile it against your own payroll and raise a grievance on the portal if it's wrong.
Generate every new UAN through Face Authentication
Use the UMANG app at joining. For re-joinees, make sure the existing UAN is Aadhaar-authenticated. Ask first timers to seed Aadhaar to their bank account.
File the ECR with contributions by the 15th, every month
EPFO checks eligibility and calculates the incentive from these returns. There is no separate claim form.
Track it monthly
Headcount against target, rolling average, qualifying hires, net additional jobs and each job's clock. Reconcile what EPFO pays (within 45 days of each cycle) with your own working.
Remind first timers about the financial literacy course
Their second instalment depends on it, and on staying with you for 12 months. It's also a useful retention conversation.
Turn the incentive into a hiring plan
The incentive is small next to the cost of a wrong hire. The real value is in treating it as one input to a hiring plan that pays for itself. A CFOSurge CFO can:
- Rebuild your baseline from past ECRs and reconcile it with what EPFO shows.
- Model hiring, attrition and PF wage structure so new jobs actually qualify, and show the effect on cash month by month.
- Set up a monthly reconciliation of payroll, ECR and the PM-VBRY dashboard, so short payments are caught and raised as grievances in time.
- Put the incentive and the higher PF cost from the ₹25,000 ceiling into your budget and 13-week cash forecast.
Official sources
- PM-VBRY scheme guidelines, Ministry of Labour & Employment
- SOP for calculation of incentives, EPFO (November 2025)
- PM-VBRY portal, EPFO
- PM-VBRY guidelines and FAQs, Ministry of Labour & Employment
- PIB: PM-VBRY completes one year (1 August 2026)
The scheme is fund-limited: no liability arises after the scheme ends or the outlay is used up, whichever is earlier. Rules can change through Ministry notifications and EPFO circulars, so check the portal before you rely on a figure.
Questions owners ask us
What is the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana?
PM-VBRY is the employment-linked incentive scheme announced in the 2024-25 Budget and launched with effect from 1 August 2025, with an outlay of ₹99,446 crore. Part A pays first-time employees up to ₹15,000. Part B pays employers up to ₹3,000 a month for each net additional job. EPFO runs it through ECR filings.
Who is eligible for the PM-VBRY employer incentive?
Any establishment registered with EPFO, including new and exempted establishments, that files ECRs with contributions and raises its average headcount by at least 2 above its baseline (5 if the baseline is 50 or more). The incentive is paid for hires who joined between 1 August 2025 and 31 July 2027, earned up to ₹1 lakh gross at joining, are first timers or Aadhaar-authenticated re-joinees, and stay at least 6 months.
How is the baseline calculated?
For establishments registered before 1 August 2024, it is the average number of employees on the ECRs for August 2024 to July 2025. For those registered between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025, it is the average for all their months up to July 2025. New establishments registered from 1 August 2025 have a fixed baseline of 20. Averages are rounded to the nearest whole number.
How much does an employer get per employee?
It depends on the EPF wage in the hire's first completed wage month. Below ₹10,000 it's 10% of the EPF wage, so ₹1,000 at exactly ₹10,000. From ₹10,001 to ₹20,000 it's ₹2,000 a month. Above ₹20,000, up to gross wages of ₹1 lakh, it's ₹3,000. The total is the average slab × net additional jobs, not the sum for every hire.
Is the employer incentive paid for 2 years or 4 years?
Each net additional job is paid for 24 months from the month it is first paid, or 48 months for manufacturing establishments. Manufacturing has the meaning in Section 2(72) of the CGST Act, as shown on the GST registration. Months where you fail the threshold are not added back.
When does the employer receive the money?
The first payment is a lump sum covering the first six months from the month you first crossed the threshold, paid after those six months' ECRs. Payments are monthly after that. EPFO recomputes the whole period each cycle and pays the difference, within 45 days, by DBT to your PAN-linked bank account.
What if a new employee leaves?
If they leave before six months of contributions, they never count. If someone leaves later and you replace them, the replacement continues that job's remaining incentive period. If old employees leave and aren't replaced, your net additional jobs fall and so does the incentive.
Do employees earning more than ₹1 lakh count?
They count in your headcount, which helps you cross the threshold, but no incentive is paid for them. The test is gross wages at the time of joining.
How does the ₹25,000 PF wage ceiling affect PM-VBRY?
From 17 September 2026, PF is compulsory on wages up to ₹25,000. Because the slab is based on the EPF wage, a hire with basic + DA above ₹20,000 now reaches the ₹3,000 slab even with PF capped at the ceiling. Before, the ₹15,000 cap kept them at ₹2,000. Part A is unchanged at a maximum of ₹15,000.
Is the PM-VBRY incentive taxable?
The scheme guidelines say incentives are subject to the Income-tax Act unless the government issues a specific exemption. Employers should treat it as income and agree the accounting with their auditor. The incentive is in addition to benefits under any other scheme.
How do first-time employees get the ₹15,000?
They need a UAN generated or authenticated through Face Authentication on the UMANG app, gross wages up to ₹1 lakh at joining, and an Aadhaar-seeded bank account. The first instalment (up to ₹7,500) comes after six months of paid ECRs. The second comes after 12 months with the same employer and the financial literacy course.
Do we need to file a claim?
No. Existing establishments are deemed registered, but you must opt in on the EPFO Unified Portal with PAN, GSTIN and a PAN-linked bank account. After that, EPFO checks eligibility and calculates incentives from your ECRs. Disputes go through the grievance facility on the PM-VBRY portal.
