EPFO & ESIC Monthly Return Filing
Registration is only the starting point — PF and ESIC compliance is an ongoing monthly obligation, and a single missed or incorrect filing can deny an employee their benefit claim or trigger inspection and penalties for the employer. Justsetu LLP manages your monthly Electronic Challan-cum-Return (ECR) for PF and monthly ESIC contribution filing, reconciling wage data every month before submission.
What Is Covered
PF Monthly Return (ECR): a consolidated, employee-wise statement of wages and contributions filed on the EPFO Unified Portal each month, along with online payment of the combined employer and employee contribution. ESIC Monthly Contribution: employee-wise wage and contribution details filed and paid online each month through the ESIC portal, feeding into the half-yearly ESIC return.
Due Dates
PF contribution (ECR) for a given month must be filed and paid by the 15th of the following month. ESIC contribution for a given month must similarly be paid by the 15th of the following month, with the half-yearly return due by prescribed dates following each contribution period (April–September and October–March).
Documents/Information Required Each Month
- Updated employee master (new joiners, exits, wage revisions).
- attendance and wage register for the month.
- bank mandate/authorisation for online payment of contributions.
Process
- Collecting the monthly wage register and updating the employee master for joiners and leavers.
- Computing PF and ESIC contributions employee-wise, applying current wage ceilings and contribution rates.
- Generating and validating the ECR file for PF and the contribution file for ESIC.
- Uploading and filing on the respective portals, followed by online payment before the 15th.
- Reconciling the filed data against payroll records and retaining challans and acknowledgements for audit and inspection readiness.
Penalties for Delay
Late deposit of PF contributions attracts penal damages and interest under the EPF Act on a graded scale depending on the period of delay; late ESIC contribution attracts interest and can attract damages as well, in addition to jeopardising employees’ ability to claim benefits during the period of default.
Why Justsetu LLP
We reconcile your wage register against the previous month’s filing before submission — new joiners, exits, and wage revisions are the most common source of ECR errors that only surface when an employee tries to claim a benefit.
Frequently Asked Questions
The ECR must be filed and the contribution paid by the 15th of the month following the wage month.
ESIC contribution for a given month is due for payment by the 15th of the following month.
Penal damages and interest apply on a graded scale based on the period of delay, and repeated defaults can invite EPFO inspection.
Establishments with no eligible employees for PF/ESIC in a given month may still need to file a NIL return depending on their registration status — we confirm this based on your specific registration.
It is a consolidated return covering the contribution periods April–September and October–March, summarising the monthly contributions already filed and paid during that half-year.
Corrections are possible through the respective portal’s amendment process, but timely accuracy at the point of filing avoids delays in employee benefit processing.
The employer deducts the employee’s share from wages and deposits it along with the employer’s share — the employee never deposits the contribution directly.
Wage registers, attendance records, ECR/contribution filing acknowledgements, and payment challans should be retained for the statutory period, as these are the first documents sought during any inspection.
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