India's EPFO 3.0 plan to extend pension coverage to gig workers

The Indian government is preparing a major overhaul of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) through the upcoming "EPFO 3.0" project. The digital platform will move to a defined‑contribution model, use AI and cloud technology, and offer a user‑friendly dashboard that lets workers track contributions, projected pension and inflation impacts.

The scheme aims to bring gig workers, platform employees, freelancers and other informal‑sector staff into the pension system. A "Target Retirement Corpus" feature will let members set a retirement savings goal, while the system will calculate the required monthly or annual contributions. Contributions could come from employers, gig platforms, CSR funds and other organisations. The plan estimates that up to 25 million gig and manufacturing workers could be covered within five years, although no official launch date has been announced yet.