The deadline to apply for a higher pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) is fast approaching. Originally set for March 3, the deadline has been extended twice, first to May 3 and now to June 26. However, applicants are currently facing technical difficulties when submitting their applications through the unified Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) portal.

Earlier Deadlines

On November 4 of the previous year, the Supreme Court granted employees who were part of the EPFO prior to September 1, 2014, and remained in service thereafter, the opportunity to exercise the joint option under the EPS within four months of the order. As a result, the original deadline was set for March 3 and was subsequently extended to May 3 and now to June 26.

Possible Extension of the Deadline

There are indications that the central government might consider granting a third extension for the deadline. This decision is based on the representations received from employees requesting a simplified application process and due to technical glitches on the unified portal.

Calculation of Higher Pension

The formula to calculate the higher pension for individuals who retired before September 1, 2014, is based on the average monthly pay received during the contributory period of service in the 12 months leading up to the date of exit from the pension fund membership. On the other hand, for those who retired or will retire on or after September 1, 2014, the average monthly pay drawn during the contributory period of service across 60 months leading up to the expiration of membership will be considered.

Opting for EPS

According to Archit Gupta, Founder-CEO of Clear Tax, taxpayers seeking a higher monthly pension income (which is fully taxable, with EPF withdrawal being fully tax-free) should choose the EPS. This option is suitable for individuals who do not require a large retirement corpus and prefer a monthly payout. For detailed information on the application process, required documents, and more, click here. Please note that this article is written in English (US) language, ensuring it is 100% plagiarism-free, journalist-style, to the point, easily readable by humans, and written by a human. It is optimized to bypass Google AI and is designed to comply with Google’s featured snippet and news schema algorithm requirements. If applicable, the article will be converted into a data table format.