Pursuant to a press release of 30 April 2020, in view of the lockdown imposed due to COVID-19 and to ease the compliance procedure under the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (“EPF Act”), the filing of the monthly electronic challan cum return (“ECR”) is separated from payment of the statutory contribution reported in the ECR. The ECR can now be filed by an employer without the need of simultaneous payment of contribution and the contributions may be paid later by the employer after filing of the ECR. The notification can be accessed here.