EPFO will re-examination of cases of pension on Higher Wages of employees who had retired up to 1 September 2014 without exercising any option under Para 11(3) of pre-amended EPS’95.
This comes a month after laying out the eligibility criteria and procedures for availing higher pension in line with the Supreme Court’s November order.
The Hon’ble Supreme Court has pronounced judgment dated 04.11.2022 in the matter of Special Leave Petition (C) Nos. 8658-8659 of 2019. The relevant directions of the court with respect to the above-mentioned subject are as follows.
44 (v) The employees who had retired prior to 1st September 2014 without exercising any option under paragraph 11(3) of the pre-amendment scheme have already exited from the membership thereof. They would not be entitled to the benefit of this judgment.
44 (vi) The employees who have retired before 1st September 2014 upon exercising the option under paragraph 11(3) of the 1995 scheme shall be covered by the provisions of paragraph 11(3) of the pension scheme as it stood prior to the amendment of 2014.
44 (ix) We agree with the view taken by the Division Bench in the case of R.C Gupta (supra) so far as the interpretation of the proviso to paragraph 11(3) (pre-amendment) pension scheme is concerned. The fund authorities shall implement the directives contained in the said judgment within a period of eight weeks, subject to our directions contained earlier in this paragraph.”
The latest circular states that “in order to stop over payment, if any, in respect of employees who had retired prior to September 1, 2014, without exercising any option under Para 11(3) or the pre-amended scheme, and have been granted a pension on higher wages, their cases need to be re-examined to ensure that they are not given higher pension from the month of January 2023 onwards”.
“Pension in such cases may be immediately restored to pension on wages up to the ceiling of Rs 5,000 or Rs 6,500,” it said.
The EPFO also said regional offices must send notices to members receiving a higher pension, and in cases where she is unable to prove her case, the extra pension paid should be recovered.
