We are issuing this short addendum to our previous note on the Supreme Court judgment of November 4, 2022, that paved the way for certain employees to exercise the right to higher pension under the aegis of the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995 (EPS).
The Supreme Court judgement allowed most categories of employees to opt for higher pension, excluding the following:
Thereafter, the Employees’ Provident Funds Organisation (EPFO) issued a circular on December 29, 2022. This circular indicates providing the opportunity to apply for higher EPS pension only to those members who have retired prior to September 1, 2014 and had exercised this option prior to their retirement, but had suffered a rejection of the application. As such, based on this circular, the EPFO is currently accepting applications for higher pension only from a negligible quantum of EPS pensioners.
We are now given to understand that EPFO is likely to issue a follow up circular, shortly, which would indicate the applicability of the higher pension option to other categories of employees/ pensioners, thereby completing the necessary compliance with the Supreme Court Order of November 4, 2022.
Since the window for exercising this option may be short, employers are advised to stay prepared for its implementation, which may include understanding the financial implications of this option, assessing the extent of historical employee data available with them, and be ready to communicate this to their employees.
We will continue to monitor this space and share further updates when available. Please feel free to reach out to your WTW contact or write to WTWIndia@willistowerswatson.com for any questions or guidance around understanding the impact of this judgement.
