EPFO High Pension Scheme: Over 11 Lakh Applications Rejected Out of 15.24 Lakh Received

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Out of the 15.24 lakh applications received so far under EPFO’s High Pension Scheme, more than 11 lakh have been rejected. In this process, which started after the Supreme Court’s decision, only those employees are eligible who joined EPF before 1 September 2014 and chose to contribute to EPS on the basis of full salary. The government has not given the reason for the rejection.

The central government has told the Parliament that a large number of the lakhs of applications submitted under the EPFO’s High Pension Scheme have been rejected. People had high hopes on this much-discussed scheme of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), but the latest figures seem to dash them.

Union Minister of State for Labor Shobha Karandlaje told the Rajya Sabha that EPFO has received 15.24 lakh applications so far. Out of these, the processing of 98.5% applications has been completed. But the most surprising thing is that more than 11 lakh applications have been rejected. Only 4 lakh forms have been passed, while about 21,995 applications are still in process.

At present, the government has not explained why such a large number of forms were rejected. Nor has it been clarified when the process of the remaining applications will be completed. According to the report, the maximum number of applications, i.e. 63,026, were rejected in Chennai and Puducherry region.

The race of hopes had started after the decision of the Supreme Court

The discussion on EPFO’s high pension scheme intensified when the Supreme Court gave an important decision on 4 November 2022. The court had said that those employees who had joined the EPF scheme before 1 September 2014 and continued in the job or retired later, can choose to get pension on the basis of their full salary.

This decision was considered a relief for lakhs of employees, who were dissatisfied with the limit of EPS pension for years. Earlier the maximum pension was limited to a salary of Rs 15,000, but after this order, there was hope that now pension can be received on the basis of full salary.

EPFO started online process

After the SC decision, EPFO launched an online portal on 26 February 2023, where employees and pensioners could apply for high pension. Initially the last date for application was 3 May, which was extended to 26 June 2023. After this, companies were also given many opportunities to upload the salary details of their employees.

However, the rejection of so many applications makes it clear that either the process was not explained properly or there was a huge flaw in the verification of documents and data. This can also lead to huge dissatisfaction among pensioners and employees.

Who can avail the benefit of high pension?

Only those employees who fulfil certain conditions will get the benefit of EPFO’s Higher Pension Scheme. The first condition is that the employee should have joined the EPF scheme before 1 September 2014. Secondly, the person will be considered eligible in both situations whether he is currently in service or has retired. The third important condition is that the employee has already chosen the option of contributing to EPS on the basis of his entire salary, or wants to choose that option now.

That is, only those who have contributed to EPS not only according to the fixed limit (₹ 15,000) but also according to their entire salary or have expressed their wish to contribute, are eligible for this scheme. Under this scheme, the pension is calculated on the basis of the total service period of the employee and the amount of contribution. According to the rules, the eligible employee can get a much higher amount than the normal EPS pension.

What is EPS-95 scheme?

EPS-95 i.e. Employees Pension Scheme, 1995 is the EPFO scheme under which employees of the organized sector get pension after retirement. However, a limit was fixed for this, even if the salary of an employee is more than Rs 15,000, the pension was decided on the basis of this limit. There was a dispute about this for years and the employees were demanding that they should get pension based on their actual salary. The Supreme Court gave guidance in this direction and EPFO started the application process after that.

 

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