The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation also commonly called as EPFO Extends Higher Pension Deadline for employers to upload details of employees who have opted for a higher pension. The date has now been extended from December 31, 2023, to May 31, 2024.

EPFO received around 1.74 million applications from the members opting for higher pensions till July 11, 2023, the last date for employees to apply for the same. As of September 29, 2023, more than 550,000 applications were pending for validation of option/joint options with employers.

On January 3, 2024, the Ministry of Labour & Employment, which administers EPFO, stated that more than 360,000 applications were still pending with employers for processing. Therefore, the date for higher pension application processing has been extended further by another five months to May 31, 2024, it said.

Also Read: EPFO Simplifies Rules: Don’t Have Proof Of Joint Request To Apply For Higher Pension? Here’s What You Can Do

Deadline For Employers

The deadline for employers was set on September 30, 2023, giving them more time to complete the application process and validation.

But considering the number of applications that remained to be completed and uploaded, the EPFO Extends Higher Pension Deadline for employeers by three months to December 31, 2023, and has now again extended the last date for uploading the wage details of the employees and completing the validation process to May 31, 2024, thus providing an extension of five months.

Deadline For Employees

In compliance with the Supreme Court order dated November 4, 2022, EPFO provided an online facility to submit applications for higher pension and validating options/joint options. This online application facility became available to eligible EPFO members on February 26, 2023.

The deadline for submitting applications was three months later, on May 3, 2023. However, it was extended to June 26, 2023, to provide more time for members to apply for higher pension, and submit details, and the required documents. In June 2023, it also issued upgraded FAQs to clarify doubts regarding the application process and the documents required to be attached.

Nevertheless, the last date for employees was again extended a third time by 15 days to July 11, 2023, before the portal stopped accepting applications from employees for the validation of options/joint options for a higher pension.

In the recently issued revised FAQs, the organization kept the same formula for higher pension calculation. This involves using the 12-month average salary preceding the exit date from the pension fund for calculation purposes if the pension commencement date is before September 1, 2014. If the commencement date is on or after September 1, 2014, the pension will be calculated based on the average monthly pay in 60 months of contributory service preceding the date of exit from the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF).

Related: What Do The Revised FAQs From EPFO Say About Higher Pension?