Before 2025, a major update revealed regarding pension. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has pushed back the deadline for employers to submit online salary details for higher pension contributions. Employers now have until January 31, 2025, to get these details in. The EPFO mentioned that this is a final chance for employers to process and upload any pending applications for verification of options by that date, so high pension applications can be handled.
Pending Clarifications
The EPFO is looking for more information or clarification on about 4.66 lakh applications that have been submitted so far. Additionally, over 3.1 lakh applications are still waiting on employers to act.
High Pension System Overview
In a significant ruling in 2022, the Supreme Court allowed current members of the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) to contribute around 8.33% of their salary as pension if they joined before September 1, 2014. Following this decision, an online application process was launched on February 26, 2023, enabling members to apply for verification of their options. The original deadline for applications was May 3, 2023, but it has been extended multiple times, with the latest figures showing around 17.49 lakh applications received by July 2023.
Ongoing Deadline Extensions
Due to requests from employers and their associations, the EPFO has repeatedly extended the deadline for submitting salary details. Initially set for September 30, 2023, it was pushed to December 31, 2023, and then to May 31, 2024. Despite these extensions, the application process has been slow, leading to the latest deadline of January 31, 2025.
