The facility was for eligible pensioners/members in compliance with the Supreme Court order.
EPFO Extends Time: Earlier an online facility was made available by Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) for submitting applications for validation of option/joint options for pension on higher wages. The facility was for eligible pensioners/members in compliance with the Supreme Court order of 4 November 2022. The facility was launched on 26 February 2023 and was to remain available only till 3 May 2023. However, considering the representations of the employees, the time limit was extended to 26 June 2023 to provide a complete four months to eligible pensioners/members for filing applications.
A last opportunity of 15 days was further given to remove any difficulty faced by the eligible pensioners/members. Accordingly, the last date for submission of applications for validation of option/joint options by employees was extended to 11 July 2023. 17.49 lakh applications for validation of option/joint options have been received from pensioners/members till 11 July 2023.
Because of representations received from Employers & Employers’ Associations wherein requests were made to extend the period for uploading wage details of applicant pensioners/members, the employers were also given a further period of three months to submit wage details, etc. online latest by 30 September 2023. This time was further extended till 31 December 2023 because many representations were received from Employers & Employers’ Associations wherein requests were made to extend further period for uploading wage details of applicant pensioners/members.
More than 3.6 lakh applications for validation of option/joint options are still pending with the employers for processing.
Therefore, to ensure that employers process these remaining applications for validation of option/joint options, the Chairman, Central Board of Trustees (CBT) Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) has approved the proposal to grant another extension of time for the employers to upload wage details online etc till 31 May 2024.