THE WAIT FOR HIGHER PENSION

ALMOST 18 MONTHS AFTER THE SUPREME COURT RULING, SUBSCRIBERS WHO OPTED FOR A HIGHER PENSION UNDER THE EMPLOYEES' PENSION SCHEME CONTINUE TO WAIT AS THE EPFO, FACING A STAFF CRUNCH, TRIES TO FIGURE OUT THE MATH 

- SURABHI

Over 17 months and counting. That’s how long members of the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) have been waiting to see the implementation of the November 2022 Supreme Court ruling on higher pension. While they still have hope, there is little clarity on when the apex court’s ruling will be implemented by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), which has been processing hundreds of thousands of application forms.

In all, the EPFO had received 1.75 million applications for higher pension. This includes about 410,000 applications from pensioners who had retired before September 1, 2014, and another 1.34 million from members under the joint option (where their salaries exceeded the cap of ₹15,000). By December 2023, about 1.17 million applications were still at various stages of validation by employers and it is unclear how long it will take to process these. EPFO, the retirement fund manager, had also sent out more than 42,000 demand notices for additional payment by members opting for higher pension to deposit funds to meet payments for past dues. “The first leg of the process—submitting applications—is now over. The EPFO is understood to be processing these applications. Members whose applications are found in order in all respects should hear about the amount to be transferred from the EPF account to the EPS sometime soon, if [they have] not heard so far,” says Kuldip Kumar, Partner with tax consulting firm Mainstay Tax Advisors.

DECODING EPS 1995