Process of applying for higher pension on unified portal simple: Ministry
The process for applying for a higher pension on EPFO’s unified portal is “simple and easy to understand” and as per last year’s Supreme Court order, Parliament was informed on Monday amid criticism of the pointless requirements on the portal.
Following the Supreme Court order in November 2022, the Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) has given an option to contributors and employers to opt for higher contributions as per actual basic wages (above threshold of Rs 15,000 per month) on the Unified Portal.
In a written response to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Labor and Employment Rameswar Tele said, “The process in the Unified Portal for offering Shared Options for Higher Pensions is simple, easy to understand and contains simple requirements as per the provisions of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme, 1952, Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995 and the judgment of the Supreme Court on 4th November 2022.”
For the convenience of members and retirees, the minister said, EPFO has directed its field offices across India to assist applicants in filling these forms online.
He was responding to a question about whether the government had noticed criticism against the useless requirements and complex process on the single portal put forward by EPFO to offer shared options for higher pensions.
Teli explained that the online option model contains simple requirements as per the Supreme Court ruling, EPF Scheme, 1952 and EPS, 1995.
Joint Option under Clause 26 (6) of the EPF Scheme, 1952 is not a new requirement and predates EPS, 1995. It was required as per the provisions of the Scheme and directives of the Supreme Court.
However, it was stated that the upload of evidence in respect of joint option under Clause 26(6) of the EPF Scheme, 1952, is not compulsory and to facilitate applicants to obtain a pension on higher wages, the EPFO has been instructed that the same may be made at any time before the award of the pension where the contributions due and administration charges have been fully transferred to the EPFO under Clause 26(6) of the EPF.
On labor reforms, Tilly said in a separate response: “The government has drawn up four labor laws, namely the Wages Code, 2019, the Industrial Relations Law, 2020, the Social Security Law, 2020, and the Safety, Health and Working Conditions Law, 2020 and published them in the Official Gazette for public information.”
As a step towards the implementation of all four labor laws, the rules must be drafted by the central government as well as by the state governments.
He added that the Center and a number of states/Union Territories (UTs) had previously published draft rules under labor laws, and invited comments from all stakeholders.
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