Higher Pension on Full Wages: Legal Right or Government Meme?
Have you contributed to EPS based on your full salary for years hoping for a bigger pension?
Well, welcome to the legendary saga of “Higher Pension on Full Wages under EPS 1995” — a legal journey, a technical maze, and now… an internet roast.
🔍 Background: What is Higher Pension on Full Wages?
The Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995, under the EPFO, originally capped pensionable salary at ₹6,500/month, later revised to ₹15,000 from September 1, 2014. But many employees and employers continued to contribute based on actual salary, exceeding this limit.
Their goal?
📈 A higher monthly pension after retirement.
🎯 The formula:
Pension = (Pensionable Salary × Pensionable Service) ÷ 70
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⚖️ Supreme Court to the Rescue – Sort of...
In November 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that:
Employees who contributed on actual salary beyond ₹15,000, along with employers, Can opt for higher pension. But must submit a joint option form — either earlier or freshly within the deadline.
🗓️ Latest Deadline: March 3, 2024
EPFO Higher Pension Portal
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😩 What Happened Next? A Comedy of Bureaucracy
❌ The Portal Crashed.
Thousands of users faced timeout errors, failed OTPs, and a portal slower than pension approvals.
📂 The Application Status:
“Application Under Process” – for months.
🤯 The PF Corpus Was Transferred to EPS.
But the pension calculation still runs on 1995 formulas.
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🧓 Retired Employee:
"I paid for 20 years on full wages… now I’m told my paperwork is incomplete from 2014?"
📠 EPFO:
"We prefer paperwork from 1995. Your digital file means nothing here."
📅 System Message:
“Application Pending Since 2014. Come back later… or never.”
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📜 Legal References:
EPS Scheme, 1995 (amended via Gazette Notifications)
Supreme Court Judgment – EPFO vs Sunil Kumar & Others (2022)
Circulars:
EPFO Circular dated 29 Dec 2022
EPFO Circular dated 20 Feb 2023 (for post-2014 employees)
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🤔 Should You Opt for Higher Pension?
✔️ Good for you if:
You plan to live long (pension is lifelong)
You trust EPFO’s processing eventually works
You don’t need your PF corpus for emergencies
❌ Avoid if:
You want liquidity
You expect returns above pension rates (~8-9%)
You hate dealing with government red tape
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🎯 Final Thought:
The Higher Pension Scheme was supposed to reward long-term contributors. Instead, it’s now a bureaucratic roast, where your money vanishes into EPS and your pension becomes a waiting game.
So, before opting in, ask yourself: "Am I ready to exchange my PF for a promise… that might come with a tea break?"
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