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On the eve of the deadline to opt for higher pension, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) extended the last date for applications to June 26.
More than 12 lakh applications have been received till date, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said in a statement released Tuesday.
The online facility to opt for higher pension was to remain available till May 3.
“In the meantime, 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 26th June, 2023,” the statement said.
The timeline is being extended to facilitate and provide ample opportunity to the pensioners/members so as 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 said.
Many employees had raised concerns about difficulties being faced in submitting the joint option on the portal.
The Supreme Court in a ruling on November 4 last year had upheld the amendments to the Employees’ Pension (Amendment) Scheme, 2014, implying another chance 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 the pensionable salary capped at Rs 15,000 a month — towards pension.
