EPF & ESI Contribution Calculator
Calculate monthly EPF and ESI contributions for both employee and employer, against the current statutory ceilings. Switch between the capped ₹15,000 wage base and contributions on full basic.
EPF ceiling ₹15,000 · ESI ceiling ₹21,000 · rates unchanged
PF is calculated on this, not on gross.
ESI eligibility is decided on gross wages.
The statutory minimum — contributions cap at ₹1,800 each.
Monthly contributions
Provident fund
ESI
Totals
₹23,400 a year
₹29,400 a year
How EPF is calculated
Provident fund is charged on basic salary plus dearness allowance — not on gross. Both the employee and the employer contribute 12%. Where the employer applies the statutory wage ceiling of ₹15,000, each side contributes ₹1,800 a month regardless of how high the actual basic is.
Employers may instead contribute on full basic. That raises the deduction from the employee's salary and the employer's cost, but builds a substantially larger retirement corpus. Which approach an employer follows is a policy choice, and it is worth knowing which one applies to you, because the difference in take-home can be several thousand rupees a month on a senior salary.
Within the employer's 12%, a portion is diverted to the Employees' Pension Scheme rather than the provident fund account. This calculator shows the total employer contribution rather than that internal split.
How ESI differs
ESI is calculated on gross wages, and only applies while those wages are ₹21,000 a month or below. The employee pays 0.75% and the employer 3.25%. Because the test is on gross rather than basic, an employee can easily be inside PF but outside ESI.
ESI runs in two contribution periods each year. If an employee crosses the wage ceiling part way through a period, contributions continue until that period ends rather than stopping immediately — a detail that causes a lot of avoidable reconciliation work.
What it costs the employer
For an employee at the ESI ceiling, the employer's statutory cost is 12% of basic plus 3.25% of gross on top of the salary itself. This is the gap between gross salary and CTC, and it is why the two figures never match.
Frequently asked questions
- How much PF is deducted from salary?
- 12% of basic salary plus dearness allowance from the employee, matched by 12% from the employer. The statutory wage ceiling is ₹15,000 a month, so where an employer applies the ceiling each contribution caps at ₹1,800. Employers may voluntarily contribute on full basic instead.
- Has the PF wage ceiling changed from ₹15,000?
- No. A revision to ₹25,000 has been discussed but has not been notified, so ₹15,000 remains the statutory ceiling. This calculator uses ₹15,000.
- Who has to be covered by PF?
- Registration is mandatory for establishments with 20 or more employees. Within a covered establishment, membership is compulsory for employees earning wages up to the ₹15,000 ceiling; those above it can join voluntarily and most employers enrol them anyway.
- What is the ESI salary limit?
- ESI applies while gross wages are ₹21,000 a month or less. The employee contributes 0.75% and the employer 3.25%, so the total is 4% of gross. Once an employee crosses the limit mid-contribution-period, contributions continue until the end of that period.
- Is ESI calculated on basic or gross?
- On gross wages, unlike PF which is calculated on basic plus DA. This catches people out — an employee can be outside ESI on gross while still having a low basic for PF purposes.
- Does the employer's PF contribution come out of my salary?
- Not from your gross salary, but it is normally included in your CTC. It is a genuine cost to the company on top of what you are paid. Your own 12% is what actually reduces your take-home.
Related free tools
- CTC to In-Hand Salary Calculator
Enter your CTC and see the exact monthly take-home after PF, professional tax and income tax. Free, no sign-up.
- Salary Slip Generator
Create a professional salary slip with earnings, deductions and net pay, and download it as a PDF.
Filing PF and ESI every month?
The arithmetic is the easy part — the monthly ECR upload, the challans and keeping employee-wise records straight is the work. Smart Dhandha runs payroll and tracks PF, ESI and TDS per employee so the filing data comes out of the system rather than a spreadsheet.
- PF and ESI computed inside the payroll run
- Employee-wise contribution history retained
- Compliance dates and filing amounts tracked
This tool is provided free for general guidance and uses the rates noted above. Statutory rates change, and individual circumstances differ — please confirm with your accountant or a qualified professional before relying on these figures for filing or payroll.