The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Saturday said more than 8,000 members have already applied online as of March 4, 2023, and it is making all-out efforts to publicise the process of joint option which can be submitted online till May 3, 2023.
Earlier last week, the EPFO on February 27 extended the deadline by 60 days for subscribers to opt for a higher pension to May 3, from March 3, 2023
In its statement, EPFO said the organisation has opened the online joint (employee and employer) option form with the necessary documents in the unified portal for contributing to higher salaries to the EPS-95.
The form paves the way for giving effect to the Supreme Court order, while adhering to the basic scheme provisions.
The Supreme Court on November 4, 2022, allowed another change for employees who were existing EPS members as on September 1, 2014, to contribute up to 8.33 per cent of their actual salaries – as against 8.33 per cent of pensionable salary capped at Rs 15,000 a month – towards pension.
In the provident fund account, the contributions of both the employee and employer on higher wages are involved and the EPF and EPS-95 schemes require the joint request when they contribute on higher salary, the statement read.
This is not a new requirement and predates the EPS-95 and the position has been affirmed by Supreme court in the RC Gupta case stating that it is a necessary pre-cursor for exercising joint option on higher salary under EPS, the organisation added.
The correct assessment of contributions and their deposit and diversion to Pension Fund, the past services rendered, and the remittances made are necessary for correct calculation of the benefits and valuation of the Pension Fund.
The EPFO closed the options on Saturday for the retired EPS members, prior to September 01, 2014, and whose options were not considered earlier. It confirmed that so far it has received 91,258 online applications from this category of employees as of Saturday.
