From 15 July 2026, an Indian professional sent to the United Kingdom on temporary deputation no longer has to pay UK social security, called National Insurance, for up to 5 years. Instead, they keep contributing to their Employees Provident Fund in India. This comes from the India-UK Double Contribution Convention, a social security agreement that took effect alongside the India-UK trade deal, CETA, on 15 July 2026.
Quick answer: The India-UK Double Contribution Convention (DCC) is a social security agreement that stops the same worker from paying into two pension systems at once. Under it, an Indian employee on short-term posting to the UK stays covered by EPF in India and is exempt from UK National Insurance for up to 5 years. It came into force on 15 July 2026 with the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). To claim it, the employer or employee gets a Certificate of Coverage from EPFO.
If you are short on time: read What you save and How to claim the exemption.
When an Indian employee is posted to the UK, both countries could earlier demand social security contributions on the same salary. The worker paid UK National Insurance and also wanted to keep their EPF running in India. That was money paid twice, often with little UK benefit for a short stay.
The Double Contribution Convention fixes this. It is the social security side of the India-UK trade agreement. It lets a deputed worker stay in only their home system for a set period, so there is no double deduction.
The exemption period was raised to 5 years, which covers most temporary postings. The agreement came into force on 15 July 2026.
This is about temporary deputation, not permanent migration. A worker who settles in the UK long term is treated differently.
UK National Insurance is a significant deduction on salary, shared between employee and employer. For a worker earning a UK salary, avoiding it for up to 5 years is a large saving across the posting.
At the same time, the worker keeps building their EPF and pension in India without a gap. So the retirement savings stay in one place instead of being split across two countries for a few years.
The standard way to use a social security agreement is a Certificate of Coverage (CoC), which proves you are already covered at home.
Because the agreement is new, confirm the exact current process on the EPFO International Workers page before you apply.
Since you do not pay UK National Insurance during the exemption, you do not build a UK state pension for that period. That is usually a fair deal for a temporary posting, because you keep growing your India EPF and pension instead. Weigh it only if you plan to stay in the UK for the very long term.
Real example: Anil, a software engineer from Pune, was posted to his firm's London office for 3 years. Earlier he would have lost a chunk of salary to UK National Insurance while also trying to keep his EPF alive in India. After 15 July 2026, his employer obtained a Certificate of Coverage from EPFO, so Anil stayed on EPF in India and was exempt from UK National Insurance for the posting. His take-home in the UK went up and his India retirement savings kept growing.
The India-UK Double Contribution Convention came into force on 15 July 2026, together with the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). It applies to Indian workers on temporary deputation to the UK from that date.
The exemption covers deputations of up to 5 years. During this period the worker stays in the Indian social security system and does not pay UK National Insurance.
Yes. The whole idea is that you stay covered at home. You continue your EPF contributions in India during the deputation, so your retirement savings do not have a gap.
You use a Certificate of Coverage. The Indian employer or employee applies to EPFO for the certificate, and it is submitted to prove Indian coverage and claim exemption from UK National Insurance. Confirm the current process on the EPFO International Workers page.
Yes. The employer avoids the UK employer social security charge on the covered worker for the exemption period, which lowers the cost of posting Indian staff to the UK.
You do not build a UK state pension for the period you are exempt, because you do not contribute to UK National Insurance. Instead you keep growing your EPF and pension in India, which is usually better for a temporary posting.
The Double Contribution Convention is the social security part that came into force with CETA on 15 July 2026. CETA covers trade and tariffs, while the DCC covers social security contributions for workers moving between the two countries.