The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has urged eligible employees to submit an application for a higher pension under the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) before the deadline of May 3. With just a few days left to apply, the EPFO has issued new guidelines for examining information and wage details submitted by the employer and employee for a higher pension.

 

A circular issued by the EPFO on April 23 stated that applications and joint options for higher pensions will be evaluated by the field office. If all requirements are met, the wage information provided by the employer will be compared to the data held by the field offices.

 

The criteria for eligibility and the procedure for verifying have generated some confusion among the eligible employees. The EPFO published a notification informing  member was responsible for establishing eligibility and that the process for requesting  a higher pension was not automated.

 

Employees must have been a members before September 1, 2014, and they must have remained members on or after that date in order be eligible for a higher pension. Similarly employees and employers who made contributions on salaries that exceeded the standard wage ceiling of Rs. 5,500/Rs. 6,500 are eligible.

 

A joint option form with a declaration from the employer and employee for a higher contribution to the EPS as high as 8.33% of the actual wages must be submitted by eligible employees in the prescribed format on the EPFO portal along with the necessary documents, which includes an agreement to allow the transfer of funds from the provident fund to the pension fund, documentation showing the employer's share of the provident fund on higher wages exceeding the standard wage ceiling.

 

The APFC/RPFC-II will request information from the employers under notification to the employees/pensioners within one month in cases where the submitted information is incomplete or seems incorrect, or any information in the application or joint option form needs correction or is not found eligible. If all necessary information is provided, the case will move forward and process further. However, the APFC/RPFC-II/RPFC-1 will decide on the merits of the order if complete information is not received within a month.

 

Before the deadline of May 3, eligible employees must submit their application for a higher pension in order to take advantage of this opportunity. The employees' provident fund now has the highest interest rate in the small savings category thanks to an increase in the interest rate by the EPFO to 8.15% for FY23. Employees are urged to reap the rewards from this scheme and prepare for their retirement.