The deadline to apply for a higher pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) will end on Monday, 26 June 2023. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has recently addressed many doubts related to the computation and documentation. As the deadline is nearing, applicants are hurrying to complete their registration process. However, most of them are facing several technical issues and snags in submitting the application through the unified EPFO portal, according to media reports.
Deadline extension
EPFO has extended the deadline for higher pension applications three times since the last cut-off date on March 4
The retirement fund body recently released circulars on what all documents one can submit, and the methodology of computing a pension on a higher salary.
The formula for calculating higher pension for those who retired prior to 1 September 2014
The pension shall be calculated based on the average monthly pay drawn during the contributory period of service in the span of 12 months preceding the date of exit from the membership of the pension fund
The formula for calculating higher pension for those who retired/will retire on or after 1 September 2014
The pension shall be calculated based on the average monthly pay drawn during the contributory period of service in the span of 60 months preceding the date of exit from the membership of the pension fund.
Who should opt for higher EPS?
According to Archit Gupta, Founder, and CEO, Clear in case taxpayers are looking at a higher monthly pension income (which is fully taxable, while EPF withdrawal is fully tax-free), they may opt for EPS. This is when they don’t need a large corpus on retirement and would prefer a monthly payout assuming they have many years of retirement ahead of them. One can get a pension as long as they live, and spouses and children may also receive some part of the pension as per eligibility.
Earlier in November 2022, the Supreme Court asked the government to give subscribers four months for opting for a higher pension.
The EPFO provided an online facility to submit the joint option form (with employers) to the subscribers for opting for a higher pension till May 3, 2023. Later the deadline was extended until June 26, 2023.
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Updated: 24 Jun 2023, 02:55 PM IST