The government has initiated the first comprehensive review of the Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees' Trust Fund (ETF) since their establishment decades ago, Deputy Minister of Labour Mahinda Jayasinghe said.
Speaking in Parliament today (24), the Deputy Minister said the Labour Department has already launched a series of new measures aimed at improving the efficiency of the two funds and enhancing benefits for their members.
According to the latest data, the EPF has 22.9 million registered members and beneficiaries, of whom 3.1 million have active accounts receiving monthly contributions. The ETF, meanwhile, has approximately 3 million registered members.
Jayasinghe further stated that by the end of 2025, the EPF's total assets had reached Rs. 4.9 trillion, while the ETF's assets stood at Rs. 637.5 billion.
He also noted that there were 101,000 active employers in 2025, including 376 from the semi-government sector.
The Deputy Minister said the Labour Department has expedited the recovery of outstanding contributions from defaulting private and semi-government institutions.
He added that a new software system is currently being developed to integrate the data systems of the Labour Department and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) under a unified platform.
He further said that the Digital EPF facility, which enables employee registration and a range of EPF services to be accessed online, was officially launched last December.
Jayasinghe also stated that these reforms and future plans would enable members to access all EPF and ETF-related services through a single-window system.
Addressing the Parliament, the Deputy Minister further said, "The Employees' Provident Fund has 22.9 million registered members and beneficiaries. Of these, 3.1 million active accounts receive monthly contributions. The Employees' Trust Fund has around three million registered members. By the end of 2025, the EPF's assets had reached Rs. 4.9 trillion, while the ETF's assets amounted to Rs. 637.5 billion.
There are 101,000 active employers in 2025, including 376 from the semi-government sector."
He stressed that "no government has conducted such a systematic review of the EPF and ETF since their establishment. The EPF was established under the 1958 Act, while the ETF was established in 1980. From then until now, no such comprehensive study has been carried out."
Explaining the reforms being implemented, Jayasinghe said, "The Labour Department has expedited the recovery of outstanding EPF contributions from defaulting private and semi-government institutions. For example, Rs. 3.4 billion has been allocated through the 2026 Budget to settle outstanding EPF contributions of semi-government institutions."
He added that expedited measures had been initiated to reactivate inactive court cases and execute outstanding warrants.
He further said that a new software system was being developed by integrating the data systems of the Labour Department and the Central Bank.
In addition, he noted that the Digital EPF platform had already been introduced to enable employee registration and a range of EPF services to be carried out online, adding that it was officially launched last December.
