The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on May 2, 2023, extended the last date to apply for higher pensions under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS). From May 3, 2023, the date is now extended till June 26, 2023.
“The EPFO has made arrangements for obtaining applications for validation of option/joint option from pensioners/members as per the Supreme Court order dated November 4, 2022. To facilitate this process, the online facility has been made available. More than 12 lakh applications have been received till date. The online facility was to remain available only till May 3, 2023,” the pension fund body said in a late evening statement on May 2, 2023.
“Many representations have been received from various quarters seeking extension of time. The issue has been considered, and it has been decided that in order to provide a larger window of opportunity, and, in order to enable all eligible persons to file their applications, the timeline for filing applications would now be till June 26, 2023,” it added.
“The timeline is being extended to facilitate and provide ample opportunity to the pensioners/members to ease out any difficulty being faced by them. This has been decided after sympathetically considering the various demands received from employees, employers and their associations,” it further added.
Meanwhile, the labour & employment ministry in a statement issued late on May 3 said all necessary changes were made to comply with the Supreme Court order on higher EPS pension. In an order dated November 4, 2022, the top court held that pensioners who had retired before September 1, 2014, should be given the option to exercise joint options under Paragraph 11(3) of the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995.
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