New Job – no provident fund.

I am considering a job offer in Mumbai which would enable a good hike in my designation and a good salary hike. The company ( Software services ) is listed on BSE and is a small to mid size organization. The position i have been offered is a permanent position, However they do not have provident fund component in the salary. The HR dept tells me that they have this policy to save on tax. They also told me that i can opt for the PF but there would be a deduction of 24% from my basic payout, i.e the company would not be contributing in the fund. I checked around with some of my friends and they say that this is common practice in small companies in the IT industry. Is somthing fishy here? can some one advise?