EPFO Higher Pension- Big news for EPFO members and pensioners. Did you also apply for the Higher Pension Scheme of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) and the application got rejected? Recently, the government has shared information about the Higher Pension Scheme in the Parliament.
The government said that EPFO received more than 15.24 lakh applications under the Higher Pension Scheme and out of these, more than 11 lakh applications have been rejected. So far, about 4 lakh applications have been passed.
According to data shared in the Lok Sabha by Minister of State for Labour and Employment Shobha Karandlaje, the EPFO has settled over 98.5% of the total applications received for higher pension and 4,00,573 demand letters have been issued to eligible applicants. About 21,995 applications are still under process.
However, the government has not given the reason behind so many forms being rejected. According to EPFO, the maximum number of 63,026 applications have been rejected in Chennai and Puducherry region.
The Supreme Court had said in its decision on 4 November 2022 that the employees who were associated with EPF before 1 September 2014 and remained in job or retired after that, can opt for higher pension on the basis of their current salary. After this decision of the Supreme Court, EPFO started an online portal on 26 February 2023, on which employees could apply for higher pension. The deadline for this was fixed as 26 June 2023.
The dispute stems from a 2014 amendment to the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), which raised the pensionable wage limit from Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000 per month. Under the amendment, employees and companies were allowed to contribute 8.33 per cent of their actual wages (even if it exceeds the limit) to the EPS, provided they chose to do so within a period of six months. Many employees reportedly missed this deadline due to various reasons, including lack of awareness.
What is EPS Pension Scheme?
Employee Pension Scheme (EPS) 1995 is a retirement benefit scheme. Under this, employees are provided financial security in the form of pension after retirement. This is done by EPFO.
How to apply for EPS
Visit www.epfindia.gov.in
Click on the Employees option in the Services section
Now login with UAN and password
Go to Online Service and select Form 10D
Verify bank account
Tick the Terms & Conditions
Fill in the details of family members
Upload Passbook
Submit the application by entering OTP from Aadhaar