EPFO for higher pension to EPS subscribers- courtesy ET
EPFO for higher pension to members12 Jun 2018, 1402 hrs IST
After a long wait, there is some good news for Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) subscribers. EPS members eligible for higher pension, post a Supreme Court judgement, but were being turned away by provident fund offices can now get their dues thanks a recent circular by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
The EPFO has started pushing its offices to give higher pension to those EPF members who are eligible for it based on a landmark judgement by the Supreme Court in October 2016. The apex court's judgement had directed the EPFO to revise the pension on higher wages of the petitioners under EPS.
Also Read: Can you also get a manifold hike in lifetime pension from EPFO? Find out
However, it seems some field offices are yet to implement the same and have been delaying the process in the garb of non-availability of explicit instructions from the EPFO head office.
EPFO head office has taken this matter seriously and on June 8, 2018 it issued a circular stating, "No instructions can be kept aside for compliance only on the ground that reference has been made to Head Office for further clarification on assumption basis without attempting to comply those instructions practically. EPFO circular goes on to say - "Many field offices are taking appropriate actions on the detailed order of the Supreme Court duly circulated by Head Office for compliance by utilizing t he provisions already existing in the relevant software, whereas some offices are deliberately not taking any action to revise the pension claims to eligible members by taking one plea or the other."
For the year ending 31st March 2018, based on the number of cases received by them, these were the regional offices which have revised the pension.
The circular rests the liability on the regional provident fund commissioner (RPFC) if eligible cases get delayed. "The number of grievances due to non-settlement of eligible cases is rising and it is made clear that the concerned RPFC will be held responsible for denial / delay in settlement of such cases to eligible applicants. If any applicant is found not eligible for revision of pension as per the Supreme Court order, the same must be conveyed to the applicant within seven days of receipt of such request," it stated.
Following the Supreme Court, it was expected that eligible EPS members could soon approach the EPFO to retrospectively enhance their contributions on higher wages in order to get a quantum jump in their pensions.
To do this, the eligible member would have to submit an application on a plain paper to the PF office mentioning their retirement date and other pension details. The PF office would then recalculate the revised pension. Obviously, those pensioners who had withdrawn their entire EPF would have to put back some funds into it for the above process to be effected.
In June 2017, EPFO circulated an internal circular to their regional offices asking them to keep a track of the pensioners whose pension pay orders (PPO) have been revised. "All offices are also required to forward a monthly return with respect to the payments made to pensioners on the actual (higher wages)", in a specific format, that circular stated.
The background
In March 1996, the EPS Act was amended to allow members to raise their pension contribution to 8.33 percent of full salary (basic + dearness allowance) irrespective of what the salary is. However, for a decade not many people opted for higher contribution.
In 2005, following media reports, including Times of India, several private EPF trustees and employees approached EPFO with the demand to remove the ceiling on their EPS contributions and raise it to their total salary. The EPFO rejected the demand claiming that their response should have come within six months of the 1996 amendment. In October 2016 Supreme Court ruled in favour of employees' right to raise their contributions to the pension fund without imposing any cut-off date for eligibility.
In September 2014, the pensionable salary limit was raised from Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000, and existing employees who were contributing on full salary were asked to furnish a fresh option within 6-12 months. Simultaneously, EPFO stopped contributions on full salary from thereon.
In order to comply with the SC orders, in March 2017, the EPFO came out with a circular allowing member of EPS who had contributed on higher wages exceeding Rs 6,500 to divert 8.33 percent of salary exceeding Rs 6,500 to the pension fund, and subsequently be eligible for pension on higher salary.
What you should do
Going by the recent circular (June 8), it seems like the process will be easier and much smoother for eligible members. The details required to be considered are member's name, date of retirement, amount of contribution and the interest to be paid back by the member, old and the new pension, and pension arrears to be paid by the pensioner. So, if you are an eligible member, approach your nearest PF office and cite the latest EPFO circular to them.
After a long wait, there is some good news for Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) subscribers. EPS members eligible for higher pension, post a Supreme Court judgement, but were being turned away by provident fund offices can now get their dues thanks a recent circular by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
The EPFO has started pushing its offices to give higher pension to those EPF members who are eligible for it based on a landmark judgement by the Supreme Court in October 2016. The apex court's judgement had directed the EPFO to revise the pension on higher wages of the petitioners under EPS.
Also Read: Can you also get a manifold hike in lifetime pension from EPFO? Find out
However, it seems some field offices are yet to implement the same and have been delaying the process in the garb of non-availability of explicit instructions from the EPFO head office.
EPFO head office has taken this matter seriously and on June 8, 2018 it issued a circular stating, "No instructions can be kept aside for compliance only on the ground that reference has been made to Head Office for further clarification on assumption basis without attempting to comply those instructions practically. EPFO circular goes on to say - "Many field offices are taking appropriate actions on the detailed order of the Supreme Court duly circulated by Head Office for compliance by utilizing t he provisions already existing in the relevant software, whereas some offices are deliberately not taking any action to revise the pension claims to eligible members by taking one plea or the other."
For the year ending 31st March 2018, based on the number of cases received by them, these were the regional offices which have revised the pension.
The circular rests the liability on the regional provident fund commissioner (RPFC) if eligible cases get delayed. "The number of grievances due to non-settlement of eligible cases is rising and it is made clear that the concerned RPFC will be held responsible for denial / delay in settlement of such cases to eligible applicants. If any applicant is found not eligible for revision of pension as per the Supreme Court order, the same must be conveyed to the applicant within seven days of receipt of such request," it stated.
Following the Supreme Court, it was expected that eligible EPS members could soon approach the EPFO to retrospectively enhance their contributions on higher wages in order to get a quantum jump in their pensions.
To do this, the eligible member would have to submit an application on a plain paper to the PF office mentioning their retirement date and other pension details. The PF office would then recalculate the revised pension. Obviously, those pensioners who had withdrawn their entire EPF would have to put back some funds into it for the above process to be effected.
In June 2017, EPFO circulated an internal circular to their regional offices asking them to keep a track of the pensioners whose pension pay orders (PPO) have been revised. "All offices are also required to forward a monthly return with respect to the payments made to pensioners on the actual (higher wages)", in a specific format, that circular stated.
The background
In March 1996, the EPS Act was amended to allow members to raise their pension contribution to 8.33 percent of full salary (basic + dearness allowance) irrespective of what the salary is. However, for a decade not many people opted for higher contribution.
In 2005, following media reports, including Times of India, several private EPF trustees and employees approached EPFO with the demand to remove the ceiling on their EPS contributions and raise it to their total salary. The EPFO rejected the demand claiming that their response should have come within six months of the 1996 amendment. In October 2016 Supreme Court ruled in favour of employees' right to raise their contributions to the pension fund without imposing any cut-off date for eligibility.
In September 2014, the pensionable salary limit was raised from Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000, and existing employees who were contributing on full salary were asked to furnish a fresh option within 6-12 months. Simultaneously, EPFO stopped contributions on full salary from thereon.
In order to comply with the SC orders, in March 2017, the EPFO came out with a circular allowing member of EPS who had contributed on higher wages exceeding Rs 6,500 to divert 8.33 percent of salary exceeding Rs 6,500 to the pension fund, and subsequently be eligible for pension on higher salary.
What you should do
Going by the recent circular (June 8), it seems like the process will be easier and much smoother for eligible members. The details required to be considered are member's name, date of retirement, amount of contribution and the interest to be paid back by the member, old and the new pension, and pension arrears to be paid by the pensioner. So, if you are an eligible member, approach your nearest PF office and cite the latest EPFO circular to them.
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