================================================================================ INDIA PAYROLL STATUTORY FILING — SAMPLE FILES EPF (Provident Fund) ECR 2.0 + ESI Monthly Contribution Published by Laabam.One — https://www.laabam.one/in/en/resources/compliance/india-payroll-compliance ================================================================================ WHAT IS IN THIS FOLDER -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. epf-ecr-sample.txt A ready-to-inspect EPFO ECR 2.0 return file. Six members, 11 fields per line, separated by #~# (hash-tilde-hash). This is the exact shape of the file you upload at Payments > ECR/Return Filing on the EPFO employer portal. 2. epf-ecr-worksheet.csv The same six members as a spreadsheet you can edit. Open in Excel, replace the rows with your own payroll, then convert to the #~# text file (see below). 3. esic-monthly-contribution-template.csv The ESIC Monthly Contribution (MC) layout — six columns, in ESIC's own order and wording, with sample rows covering a full month, a mid-month exit, an employee below the daily-wage threshold and three zero-day cases. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PART A — EPF: TURNING THE WORKSHEET INTO AN ECR .TXT FILE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE 11 FIELDS, IN ORDER 1 UAN 12 digits, must be active and Aadhaar-seeded 2 Member Name as per EPFO records, not your payslip 3 Gross Wages total wages paid for the month 4 EPF Wages wages on which PF is computed (ceiling 15000) 5 EPS Wages 0 if the member is out of the pension scheme 6 EDLI Wages same as EPF wages, capped at 15000 7 EPF Contribution (EE) 12% of EPF wages 8 EPS Contribution (ER) 8.33% of EPS wages 9 EPF-EPS Difference (ER) field 7 minus field 8 10 NCP Days non-contributory (loss-of-pay) days 11 Refund of Advances 0 when there is nothing to refund FILE RULES — GET ANY OF THESE WRONG AND THE PORTAL REJECTS THE UPLOAD * Separator is exactly #~# . No spaces before or after it. * Plain text, saved as .txt. Not .csv, not .xlsx, not Rich Text. * NO header row. ECR 2.0 carries member lines only; the wage month, rate of contribution and salary disbursal date are entered on the portal screen. * Whole rupees only. No decimals, no commas, no currency symbols. * One member per line. No blank line between members. * Only members with a UAN can be uploaded. * EPF wages cannot exceed gross wages; EPS wages cannot exceed EPF wages. CONVERTING IN EXCEL (the method that has worked for years) 1. Open epf-ecr-worksheet.csv and replace the sample rows with your payroll. Keep the 11 columns in the same order (columns A to K). 2. In cell M2 enter: =A2&"#~#"&B2&"#~#"&C2&"#~#"&D2&"#~#"&E2&"#~#"&F2&"#~#"&G2&"#~#"&H2&"#~#"&I2&"#~#"&J2&"#~#"&K2 3. Fill M2 down to the last member row. 4. Select column M (data rows only — do not include the header) and copy. 5. Paste into Notepad. Delete any trailing blank lines. 6. File > Save As > choose "All Files", name it ECR_MMYYYY.txt, encoding UTF-8. 7. Upload it on the portal and check the validation summary before generating the challan. CHALLAN HEADS THAT FOLLOW THE UPLOAD A/c 1 EPF employee 12% + employer difference A/c 2 EPF admin 0.50% of total EPF wages, minimum Rs 500 per month (Rs 75 for a non-functional establishment with no contributing member) A/c 10 EPS 8.33% of EPS wages A/c 21 EDLI 0.50% of EDLI wages A/c 22 EDLI admin nil since 01-04-2017 — enter 0 Worked out on the six sample members: A/c 1 = 15535, A/c 10 = 4433, A/c 2 = 500 (0.50% of 83200 is 416, so the Rs 500 minimum applies), A/c 21 = 416, A/c 22 = 0. Total remittance = 20884. DUE DATE 15th of the following month. Interest under Section 7Q runs at 12% per annum, and damages under Section 14B at 1% of the arrear per month or part of a month since 15 June 2024, capped at 100% of the arrears. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PART B — ESI: PREPARING THE MONTHLY CONTRIBUTION (MC) FILE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE SIX COLUMNS, IN ORDER A IP Number (10 digits) B IP Name (alphabets and spaces only) C No of days for which wages were paid or are payable in the month D Total monthly wages E Reason code for zero working days (numeric; 0 in every other case) F Last working day (DD/MM/YYYY or DD-MM-YYYY) FILE RULES * Upload the OFFICIAL MC template downloaded from the ESIC employer portal. This CSV mirrors its column order so you can paste your data across. * Save as Excel 97-2003 Workbook (.xls). The portal rejects .xlsx and .csv. * Format EVERY column as Text, including the date column. * Paste values only. No formulas anywhere in the sheet. * Days must be whole numbers. Round a fraction up to the next integer. * Leave Last Working Day BLANK unless the person has actually left, retired, died, gone out of coverage, or the unit is in a non-implemented area. * Do not leave stray formatting or extra rows below your data. REASON CODES The authoritative list ships inside the "Instructions & Reason Codes" sheet of the MC template on the ESIC portal, and ESIC has revised it from time to time. Read that sheet before you file. The codes in common use are: 0 Not applicable (wages paid — use this for everyone who worked) 1 On leave 2 Left service 3 Retired 4 Out of coverage 5 Expired 6 Non-implemented area 7 Suspension of work 8 Strike or lockout CONTRIBUTION MATH Employee 0.75%, employer 3.25%, on gross wages up to Rs 21,000 a month (Rs 25,000 for an employee with disability). Both shares are rounded UP to the next rupee. An employee whose average daily wage is Rs 176 or less pays no employee share, but the employer still pays 3.25%. On the sample rows: total wages 45500, employee share 304, employer share 1480, challan total 1784. LATHA DEVI at Rs 5,000 for 31 days averages Rs 161.29 a day, so her employee share is nil while the employer still pays Rs 163. DUE DATE 15th of the following month. Simple interest of 12% per annum applies under Regulation 31A, and damages under Regulation 31C run from 5% to 25% per annum depending on how long the payment is delayed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A NOTE ON ACCURACY -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- These files are teaching samples prepared in August 2026. Rates, wage ceilings, templates and reason codes are set by EPFO and ESIC and do change. Always take the live template from the portal, and confirm current rates before you file.