EPFO Higher Pension Scheme:- Monday, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) gave people until May 3 to decide whether they want a bigger pension or not. Workers who started working before September 1, 2014, and kept working on or after that date, but were not able to use their shared option under the Employees’ Pension Plan, can now do so before May 3, 2023. Read on to learn more about the EPFO Higher Pension Scheme, including its highlights, benefits, eligibility requirements, contributions under the EPS, things to think about before choosing a higher pension, how to apply for an EPFO Higher Pension, and much more.
EPFO Higher Pension Scheme 2023
The Employees Provident Fund, or EPF, gets 12% of an employee’s basic pay (plus any fixed parts, like DA), which is taken out every month. This is matched by your business, interest is added each year, and when you retire, you get a lump sum. Your employer’s 8.33 percent contribution may sometimes go into the Employee’s Pension Plan (EPS), which is a different program for guaranteed pension payments after retirement. However, your 12 percent contribution goes entirely into your EPF account. On September 1, 2014, the government made a number of changes. The 8.33% EPS payment is based on a salary of up to Rs. 15,000.
Up until that point, the most a company could pay was Rs 6,500, but based on what people actually made, they could pay more. Also, it was said that workers hired after September 1, 2014, who made more than Rs 15,000 per month, could no longer use EPS. The changes did not go over well with the labor groups, so they took the EPFO to court and won. The appeal from the EPFO was heard by the Supreme Court (SC), which made its ruling in November 2022.
On March 13, 2023, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) announced that the new limit for requests for higher pensions under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) would be May 3. The limit for retirees who decided before September 1, 2014, to take the higher pension offered to all qualified pensioners under the Employees’ Pension Plan of 1995 (EPS 95) has been moved from March 3, 2023, to May 3, 2023.
According to a decision by the Supreme Court, employees who retired before September 1, 2014, and did so by using the choice in paragraph 11(3), are eligible for a pension based on their higher salaries. Circulars from December 29, 2022, and January 5, 2023, gave this information to field offices. If you want a bigger salary, you will have to put more money into the EPS. The company can only contribute 8.33% of 15,000 rupees per month, but you can pay up to 8.33% of your salary (or 1,250 rupees per month) to the EPS to get a bigger pension when you leave.
Eligibility Criteria for EPFO Higher Pension Scheme
Here are the requirements to be eligible for the EPFO Higher Pension Scheme:
- After they leave, members of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) can get a pension.
- To get a higher pension, you must have been a part of the Employees’ Pension Plan (EPS) for at least 10 years and be 50 or 58 years old, based on when you joined the EPS.
Benefits of EPFO Higher Pension Scheme
Some of the best things about the EPFO Higher Pension Scheme are:
- If your pension is bigger, you’ll get a bigger check every month when you leave.
- This can help a lot if you have no other way to make money.
- Your salary amount is set and not affected by changes in the market because it is based on how many years you worked and how much you made on average.
How to Apply for an EPFO Higher Pension Scheme 2023?
For an employee to sign up for an EPFO Higher Pension Scheme, they need to do the following:
- First, go to the official website of the EPFO Unified Member portal.
- The screen will show the home page of the website.
- Click on the link under “Important Links” that says “Pension on Higher Salary: Exercise of Joint Option under Paragraph 11(3) and Paragraph 11(4) of EPS-1995 on or before May 3, 2023.”
- The screen will show a new page with two options:
- Form to check the validity of joint choices
- Form to fill out for joint choices
- Click on the link for the joint application form
- The screen will show a new page with two options:
- Select “Validation of joint options who retired before 01.09.2014 and executed joint option” if you quit your job before that year.
- Select “Exercise of joint option for employees who were in service before 01.09.2014 and continued to be in service on 01.09.2014 but were unable to exercise the joint option” if you retired after that year.
- After choosing one of the choices, the screen will show an application form.
- Now, fill out the form with the necessary information.
- After that, click the button that says “Submit.”
- The EPFO will digitally record each application, and the person who sent it will get a receipt number. It will send the applications to the right companies, who will check them with an e-signature or digital signature before moving on with the application process.
- The RPFC will turn all of the forms into e-files.
- After looking over the papers, the person in charge of responsible dealing will send the information to the section account officer or supervisor.
- After a check, the account manager or supervisor in charge would write down any differences and send them to the Assistant Provident Fund Commissioners (APFC)/RPFC-II.
- After going over the application, the APFC/RPFC-II will let the applicants know about the higher salary by email, mail, phone, or SMS.
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