last date for eligible employees to apply for higher pension from the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) is fast approaching. But there is still no clarity on how certain eligible individuals can opt for it.
According to a Supreme Court judgment, eligible employees can opt for higher pension from EPS within 4 months of the date of the judgment. The verdict came on November 4, 2022, which makes the last date for applying for higher EPS pension March 3, 2023. With less than 20 days to go, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is yet to issue a circular regarding the process of opting for higher pension from EPS.
According to the Supreme Court judgment, there are two categories of employees who are eligible to apply for higher pension. The first category is of employees who were members of the EPS prior to September 1, 2014, had opted for higher pension from EPS, were already making contributions to EPS on basic salary exceeding the relevant limit but their request for higher pension was rejected by EPFO. The second category is of employees who were members of EPS as on September 1, 2014, but missed the opportunity to opt for higher pension from EPS by submitting the required application form.
The EPFO has issued a circular for the first category of employees on December 29, 2022, clarifying the eligibility conditions and the process of applying for the higher pension. It has also activated the link on the unified portal for this process. However, for the second category of employees, the EPFO is yet to issue a circular clarifying the process of filing applications.