What happened: ESIC launches SPREE 2025 and reports enrolment additions
The Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) launched the Scheme to Promote Registration of Employers/Employees (SPREE 2025) from July 2025 to January 2026. SPREE 2025 provided a one-time opportunity for organised-sector employers and employees who may have been inadvertently left out from ESI coverage to register without retrospective coverage concerns or punitive action.
ESIC reported the following additions during SPREE 2025 (up to 31.01.2026):
1,38,718 new employers1,12,72,772 employees
Background and earlier position: ESI coverage and the need for catch-up registration
ESI coverage is designed to extend social security benefits to eligible employees through the Employees' State Insurance (ESI) system managed by ESIC. In practice, eligible employers and employees may sometimes be inadvertently missed from coverage, creating gaps in benefits access. SPREE 2025 was framed to address such gaps through a time-bound, one-time registration window.
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