EPFO: Nearly 97,640 Provident Fund members and pensioners across India are expected to benefit from pensions on higher wages (PoWH) under the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995.
This initiative follows a Supreme Court judgment from November 2022, allowing eligible individuals to receive pensions based on their higher wages.
Of these beneficiaries, 8,401 individuals have already been issued pension payment orders (PPOs), while demand notices have been sent to an additional 89,235 individuals.
These notices are a formal request for the prospective beneficiaries to transfer their share of arrears, which is a prerequisite for receiving a pension on higher wages.
Breakdown of Beneficiaries and Categories
The data, obtained from the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, provides a clear breakdown of the beneficiaries.
As of August 7, only two retirees from the pre-2014 category had been granted the higher pension, while the remaining 8,399 PPOs were issued to individuals who were active members as of September 1, 2014.
Similarly, of the 89,235 people who received demand notices, 16 are pre-2014 retirees, and 89,219 are post-2014 members.
Applications Received and Rejected
The EPFO received a total of 17,48,775 applications for pensions on higher wages. Of these, approximately 13.38 lakh applications came from individuals who were members as of September 1, 2014.
Around 1.48 lakh applications were rejected, with 1.12 lakh of these rejections coming from retirees who left service before 2014.
This indicates that a significant portion of the pre-2014 retirees were ineligible for the PoWH benefit, contributing to the high rejection rate within that group.
Pending Applications and Employer Delays
The data also highlights that approximately 3.14 lakh applications remain pending with employers who have not yet forwarded them to the EPFO.
These delays on the employer side are impeding the processing of PoWH benefits for eligible individuals. Meanwhile, the EPFO has already received around 14.3 lakh applications.
The slow movement of pending applications may impact the overall timeline for the disbursement of pensions on higher wages, affecting both employers and employees involved in the scheme.
This initiative is seen as a significant step towards improving retirement benefits for workers, though its implementation faces delays and challenges.
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