To check whether a startup is a registered employer in India, search its legal name on EPFO's public Establishment Search, open the matching record, and read four things: whether the establishment is live, when it was covered, whether recent payment entries exist, and whether its PAN links to the company you think you are looking at. It takes about ten minutes and needs no login, only the company name and a captcha.
The record is most useful for two people: a candidate holding an offer from a young company, and anyone weighing a team-size claim such as "a 60-person team in Bengaluru". It cannot show a company is a good employer, and an empty result is not proof of fraud. What it can do is turn a vague claim into a specific question you can put to the founder.
This is a research method, not legal or payroll advice. It does not decide whether a particular business must register.
Why the record matters more since November 2025
The four labour codes took effect on 21 November 2025, according to the Press Information Bureau. Under the Code on Social Security, 2020, provident fund coverage now applies to all establishments with 20 or more employees, whatever their industry. Before that, PIB notes, applicability under the old EPF Act was tied to the establishments listed in its Schedule 1.
For a researcher, that makes the rule simpler. A company that says it employs well over 20 people in India would ordinarily be expected to show up as an establishment. A five-person team might not, and that is fine. Smaller companies can still hold a code, so a record on its own does not tell you the team is large.
Run the search properly
Open EPFO's Establishment Search. The page lets you search by "part of establishment name and/or establishment code number (only 7 digits)".
A few habits save time:
- Use the legal name, not the brand. Get it from the company's invoices, its offer letter or its MCA master data. Many startups trade under one name and employ people through a "Private Limited" entity with a different one.
- Search a distinctive fragment. "Technologies" returns thousands of rows. Two unusual words from the legal name work better. If the name is short, add the city when you scan results, because the list shows the EPFO office handling each establishment.
- If you have a PF number, use the code. An offer letter or a payslip from a current employee may carry the establishment ID. Its seven-digit core is the code the search box accepts.
- Save what you see. Take a screenshot or print to PDF with today's date. Records change, and your note should say what was visible when you checked.
Read the record section by section
When you open a result, the current page groups the record under these headings:
- Validity Status (As per Online Coverage), with a View Payment Details link
- Establishment Status (As per EPFO Master)
- Establishment Details (As per Form 5A submitted Online by the Employer)
- Units / SubCode Under same Jurisdiction
- Other Code Numbers with same Establishment
- Branches Without Code
- Establishment/s with Same PAN
- Additional Information
The labels tell you who supplied each piece. "As per EPFO Master" is the organisation's own record. "As per Form 5A submitted Online by the Employer" is what the company declared about itself. When the two disagree, for example on the address or the type of ownership, trust the master record and treat the difference as something to ask about.
Status and coverage date
In result pages we have reviewed, the master section shows a working status (for example, a live establishment), a date of coverage, and the section of the law under which the establishment was covered. Check the date of coverage against the story you have been told. A company that says it has employed 40 people since 2021 but was only covered last quarter is not necessarily breaking a rule, but it is a fair thing to ask about.
Payment details
View Payment Details opens the remittance history the portal holds for that code. You are not auditing amounts. You are looking for a pattern:
- Are there entries for recent wage months?
- Do they arrive regularly, or are there gaps of several months?
- Did they stop entirely at some point?
If the rows show a member count, read it as the number of members contributions were filed for in that month. It is not total headcount. Founders who take no salary, contractors, consultants, interns, staff employed through a payroll partner and people working abroad usually will not appear. A small count next to a large team claim is a prompt to ask how the rest of the team is engaged. It is not an accusation.
Same-PAN and other codes
Establishment/s with Same PAN is the most underrated part of the record. It shows whether other codes sit under the same PAN, which is common when a company registers separate offices or units. It also helps when a startup employs people through a holding company or an older entity. If the brand you are researching shares a PAN with a code under a completely different name, find out how those entities relate. Our guide to GST legal and trade names explains the same naming gap from the tax side.
Additional information
Result pages we have seen also include fields such as a CIN and, in some versions, startup and MSME order numbers. Where a CIN appears, match it to the company's MCA record. Where a startup order field is blank, that tells you nothing either way. Use the DPIIT certificate itself, as described in what Udyam and DPIIT recognition each prove.
A four-outcome decision method
| What you find | What it supports | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| Live record, coverage date fits the story, recent regular payment entries | The company runs an Indian payroll with provident fund filings | Note the code, coverage date and latest wage month you saw. Move on to other claims. |
| Record exists, but payments stopped months ago or the status is not live | Something changed: a restructure, a move to another entity, or trouble | Ask directly: "Which entity employs your team today, and what is its PF code?" |
| No record, and the team is plausibly under 20 in India | Consistent with the 20-employee rule; it proves nothing either way | Record "not found on [date]" and rely on other evidence. |
| No record, but the company claims a large Indian team | The claim and the public record do not line up yet | Search the group's other legal names. Then ask about payroll partners or overseas employment before drawing any conclusion. |
The fourth row is the one that matters. There are innocent explanations: an employer-of-record arrangement, employees hired by a parent company, a recent name change, or a search typed differently from the official spelling. The founder should be able to name the entity and code in one email. If they cannot or will not, that is useful information in itself.
If you are holding an offer
A job candidate is in a different position from an analyst, because you can ask for documents. Before you resign from your current role:
- Ask HR for the employing entity's legal name and PF establishment code. Asking is normal, not hostile.
- Look it up and check that the name matches the offer letter exactly.
- Open payment details and confirm that recent wage months appear.
- After joining, check that your own contributions appear in your UAN passbook. Only you can see that, and it is the strongest evidence you will get.
If the company says it does not deduct PF, ask whether that is because of headcount, an exclusion that applies to you, or a contract role. Then decide with that answer in writing. Our notes on hiring a first developer in India cover the same conversation from the founder's side.
Research checklist
- Write down the exact claim (team size, "employer of record", "PF from day one") with its source and date.
- Get the legal entity name from an invoice, offer letter or MCA record.
- Search EPFO Establishment Search with a distinctive part of the legal name.
- Note the establishment ID, master status and date of coverage.
- Open View Payment Details and note the most recent wage month you can see.
- Check Establishment/s with Same PAN and Other Code Numbers for related entities.
- Match any CIN to MCA, and the names to GST if relevant.
- Publish or decide only on what the record shows, with your check date.
For a full order of operations across registries, use the source-first verification workflow.
FAQ
How do I find a company's PF establishment code?
Search part of the company's legal name on EPFO's Establishment Search and open the matching record. The establishment ID appears in the results list. Current employees can also find it in the PF number printed on payslips.
Does an EPFO record mean the startup pays PF on time?
No. It shows the establishment is registered and lets you view the payment entries the portal holds. Payment timing and individual credits are better confirmed through an employee's own UAN passbook.
A startup with 15 people has no EPFO record. Is that a problem?
Not by itself. Mandatory coverage starts at 20 employees under the Social Security Code. Ask how statutory benefits are handled, and judge the answer rather than the empty search.
The practical rule
A team-size claim costs nothing to write on a website, while an EPFO record builds up over years of filings. When the record and the claim agree, you can cite both with your check date. When they do not, ask for the employing entity and its code before you sign an offer, an investment memo or a directory write-up. Founders listing a company can submit it to SuperLaunch with claims their records support. Readers can browse the directory and see our editorial policy for how we handle sources and corrections.
