EPFO extended the date till June 26 for higher pension.

Retirement fund body EPFO has extended the date till 26 June 2023 for higher PF Pension. This is the second time that the Centre has extended the date for submissions. Earlier, the date was March 3 and it was extended to May 3. The decision is based on the representations received from various Central Trade Unions and pensioners’ organisations demanding an extension of the date. The EPFO said that more than 12 lakh applications have been received to date.

Ten Central Trade Unions had recently written a letter to Union Labour Minister Bhupender Yadav complaining that the requirement of applying exclusively online is discriminatory and prevents large sections of employees who are not familiar with online procedures from exercising their option. They also said that the requirement for the proof of higher contribution to be provided by the employee in the online application is meaningless as the PF contribution of both the employee and employer is available with the EPFO. They said such a requirement, while submitting the joint options for higher pension, is designed to discourage and disqualify applications for higher pensions. They also said that the requirement for the proof of higher contribution to be provided by the employee in the online application is meaningless as the PF contribution of both the employee and employer is available with the EPFO. They also said that the requirement for the proof of higher contribution to be provided by the employee in the online application is meaningless as the PF contribution of both the employee and employer is available with the EPFO. Unions also demanded to scrap the requirement of joint options for higher pensions. They said such a requirement, while submitting the joint options for higher pension, is designed to discourage and disqualify applications for higher pensions.

Trade Unions said in their letter that the calculation of the actual quantum of money to be recovered from the provident fund of the employee towards the pension fund for higher pension is proving to be a challenging task. “The employers are unable to meet this challenge and to calculate even an approximation of the amount that will be recovered from the employee who opts for a higher pension. In the absence of an approximate value of the recovery amount, employees are left in a quandary whether to opt for a higher pension or otherwise. Only if there is an option to apply for a higher pension with the details of the exact amount to be recovered along with the approximate pension that can be enjoyed by the employee post-retirement, can any employee make a rational choice of opting for the higher pension,” they had said in the letter.

As per the Employees’ Pension Scheme rules, an individual is eligible for a pension from EPS if they have completed ten years of service. Employees and employers who had contributed on salary exceeding the standard wage ceiling of ₹5,000 or ₹6,500. Employees with a basic salary exceeding ₹15,000 are restricted from joining the EPS. Besides, if an employee retired before September 1, 2014, and did not exercise the option to opt for higher pension contributions, such an employee will not be eligible to opt for higher pension contributions now. Eligible employees will have to submit an application in the prescribed format by accessing the EPFO’s UAN Member e-SEWA portal