If you have applied for the higher pension option under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) you may want to know about your application status now. Here is a step by step procedure on how to use it and also how to monitor status.
The Higher Pension Option, can provide pension benefits equivalent to the cost of accumulating an adequate pension fund in the form of a lump sum.
The tier II pension relates to where employees can contribute more to the EPS in order to get higher benefits. This is available to employees who were members of the EPF before the 1 st of September 2014. It raises the contribution from the employer side and establishes other funds in a special pension account escalating with interests over time.
Those retired prior to August 31, 2014 cannot enroll for this scheme. But, EPS subscribers who enrolled themselves on or after September 1, 2014, and contributed more amount hence can take advantage of the facility.
Pensions that have been granted
According to the new data, about 97000 EPF members and pensioners are still waiting for better pension under EPS-1995. This was a go-ahead by the Supreme Court back in November 2022 but the necessity of this has not since been put into practice most probably due to some legal hindrances. Among all the applicants 8,401 people have been granted Pension Payment Orders (PPOs) and 89,235 were issued demands notices.
In other words, the pension means are fixed by the basic wages and years of service. Earlier it was up to ₹15000 for pension reaches irrespective of the salary earned by the employee. This cap has been lifted whereby the employees with the right to join the scheme can now contribute 8.3% of their real basic pay in order to achieve the highest pension.
How to Track Your Higher Pension Application Online?
1.Go to EPFO Member e-Services Portal.
2.Scroll down and click on Track Application Status for Pension on Higher Wages.
3.You can input additional details such as the Acknowledgement Number, the UAN, and even the PPO Number. Fill in the captcha code.
4.Check the checkbox to agree to the terms under the Aadhaar based biometric authentication process.
5.Go to the Get OTP and fully verify the account.