Re-launch of the SPREE scheme by the ESIC

The Employees’ State Insurance Corporation, vide circular no. P-11/12/Agenda/06/2016-Revenuell, dated 1^st July 2025, has announced the re-launch of the Scheme to Promote Registration of Employers/Employees (SPREE) under the ESI Act.

ESIC has stated that, under the provisions of the ESI Act, employers are required to register their Factory/Establishment within 15 days after the Act becomes applicable to the Factory/Establishment, and also to register their employees. However, some of the employers and employees may have been left out of the coverage of the ESI Act. To encourage such employers to cover themselves under the Act without any botheration of retrospective coverage and punitive action, the SPREE scheme, as a one-time opportunity, has been launched.

The scheme will remain open for a period of six months from 1^st July 2025 to 31^stDecember 2025. The scheme has the following features:

1. Employers registering during the period will be treated as covered from the date of registration or the date as declared by them.

2. Newly registered employees shall be treated as covered from the date of their registration.

3. This will not have any bearing on actions taken/required under the ESI Act, if any, prior to 1^st July 2025.