With less than 2 days left for individuals to apply for higher pensions under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), the question is: Will EPFO extend the deadline? The last date to submit the application for the higher pension under the EPS is 3 May 2023. The EPFO issued a circular on 23 April in which it stated that applications and joint options for higher pension will be examined by the field office . In case, the requirements are complete, the wage details submitted by the employers will be verified with the data available with the field offices.
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In its ruling from November 4, 2022, the Supreme Court had given eligible employees four months from the date of the ruling to choose the higher pension. The application deadline was thus extended to March 3, 2023.
“Online facility for submitting applications for validation of joint options to the employees who retired before 01.09.2014 and had exercised joint options before their retirement had been provided on the EPFO Website till 03.03.2023. Now, on demand of the employees’/employers’ associations the Chairman, Central Board of Trustees, has extended the time for submitting applications for validation of joint options from such employees till 3rd May 2023,” EPFO had said in an official statement on Monday.
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Documents to submit
The documents that an eligible employee must submit include an agreement to allow the transfer of funds from the provident fund to the pension fund, proof of the employer’s share in the provident fund on higher wages exceeding the standard wage ceiling of ₹5,000/ ₹6,500, and a joint option form with a declaration from the employer and employee
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In other news, the Kerala High Court has directed EPFO to make provisions in their online system to allow employees and pensioners to opt for a higher contribution without furnishing proof of prior consent for the same.
