About 25,000 pensioners of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) are facing the sword of pension reduction. The Retirement Fund Organization has instructed its local authorities to stop paying higher pensions to those who retired before 2014. Along with this, the additional amount given to them under this arrangement should also be recovered. In this regard, EPFO ​​had issued a circular on Wednesday. The organization says that such cases will be reviewed who retired before September 1, 2014 and have not subscribed to the pension facility on higher pay.

About 25,000 pensioners of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) are facing the sword of pension reduction. The Retirement Fund Organization has instructed its local authorities to stop paying higher pensions to those who retired before 2014. Along with this, the additional amount given to them under this arrangement should also be recovered. In this regard, EPFO ​​had issued a circular on Wednesday.

The organization says that such cases will be reviewed who retired before September 1, 2014 and have not subscribed to the pension facility on higher pay.

EPFO has said in the circular that from January 2023, the higher pension of such pensioners should be banned. After this, their pension will be revised on the basis of salary of Rs 5,000 or Rs 6,500. EPFO has referred to paragraph 11(3) of EPS-95 in this circular which talks about the maximum pensionable salary of an employee. EPFO has said in the circular that advance notice should be given to the pensioner before the pension is revised.

May have to face protest

Social activist Praveen Kohli, who advocates for the rights of pensioners, says that this is the pride of EPFO. He said that the circular is distorting the truth and many information has also been suppressed. According to Kohli, the court had upheld the EPS-95 in 2003 itself and after that the pension of 24,672 pensioners was revised. After this, many other pensioners also got a decision in their favor from various courts.

What is Para 11(3)

In this para, employees have been allowed that you can invest more than the limit fixed for pension from monthly salary. But the employees will have to take advantage of this facility jointly with their employer. This means that before increasing the money in the pension fund, the employee will also need the consent of the employer. Now EPFO ​​is saying that those who retired before September 1, 2014, should not be given more pension if they had not opted for this facility.

The post EPFO Higher Pension: Big news for 25,000 pensioners! Pension will be reduced! Big step taken regarding EPS-95 first appeared on Rightsofemployees.com.

Supreme Court has given a big decision regarding pension. It has said that the provisions contained in the Employees’ Pension Amendment (Scheme), 2014 are lawful and valid. The country’s highest court has canceled the salary limit of Rs 15,000 per month to join the pension fund.

The Supreme Court has said that after the amendment in the scheme, the maximum pensionable salary will have to be kept at 15,000 every month. A bench of the Supreme Court gave this decision. Apart from Chief Justice U U Lalit, two more judges were included in this bench.

The bench said that in the amended scheme, the rule of contribution at the rate of 1.6 percent for the monthly salary amount more than Rs 15,000 for the members has also been quashed. It has said that the additional contribution of 1.6 per cent is beyond the purview of the provisions of the 1952 Act.

The Supreme Court has given four months to EPFO ​​members availing EPS to opt for contribution of 8.33 per cent of their actual salary instead of their pensionable salary. The Supreme Court has amended the orders of the Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi High Courts.

The Supreme Court has given this decision on the petition of several petitioners including the EPFO ​​and the Central Government. It has said that the fund authorities will have to plan the directions included in the decision within eight weeks. The bench has also said that the employees who have not exercised the option to join the pension scheme will have to exercise the option within six months.

The country’s biggest court has also said that eligible employees who could not join the scheme till the last date should be given additional opportunity for this. This is because the situation has remained unclear after the Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi High Courts’ decisions on this issue.

The Supreme Court struck down a condition of the 2014 scheme that mandated employees to make an additional 1.6 per cent contribution on salaries above Rs 15,000. The EPFO ​​and the central government challenged the decision of the Kerala, Rajasthan and Delhi High Courts in the Supreme Court.

According to the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995, the maximum salary for calculation of pension was Rs.6,500 per month. From employers’ contribution (12 per cent), 8.33 per cent goes into the Employees’ Pension Fund (EPS). A provision was added to the EPS on March 16, 1996. In this, employees and employers were given the option to contribute more to the pension fund.

The Employees’ Pension Scheme was revised in September 2014. Under this, the maximum pensionable salary was capped at Rs 15,000 per month. Members up to September 1, 2014 were given an option to contribute on salary exceeding Rs 15,000 per month. Under this, the employee had to give a joint application with the employer.

The post Higher pension: Big News! No extra 1.6% contribution will have to be made on salary above Rs 15,000 for higher pension first appeared on Rightsofemployees.com.