Trade unions and various associations of pensioners have long been demanding an increase in the pension amount under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS). The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in 2014 fixed the minimum guaranteed pension at Rs 1,000 for those EPFO members who contribute to the pension scheme for at least 10 years. However, the government has not made any revision in the minimum pension amount under the EPS despite demands from trade unions and employee representative bodies.
But now there’s a hope! The EPS, which started three decades ago and is also known as EPS-95, will probably be examined for the first time by a third-party i.e. external experts.
A parliamentary standing committee has asked the labour ministry to complete third-party evaluation of the EPS within a definite timeframe. The panel, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Basavaraj Bommai, preferably wants the evaluation process to be done by the end of 2025.
Also read: EPFO: Guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 7,500 under EPS soon?
This par panel has also asked the labour ministry to take the matter “with a sense of urgency” to see the minimum pension of Rs 1,000 under EPS is enhanced.
The committee has said in its report that the cost of living has “manifold increased” in the last few years, that is, inflation has increased manifold, but the pension amount remains the same.
30 years of EPS
EPS was started in 1995. The purpose of this scheme is to provide a permanent income to the employees after retirement.
In its report, the committee said, “Observing that the third-party evaluation of the scheme is being conducted after 30 years, the committee strongly recommends that the exercise be completed within a definite timeframe, preferably by the end of 2025.”
The ministry has informed the committee that the process for this first third-party review has been started through Request for Proposal (RFP) and the work is currently going on. The committee was also told that no such review had ever been done before.
The report further states: “Considering the manifold increase in the cost of living in 2024 vis-à-vis 2014 and other relevant factors, there is a need to seriously consider an upward revision of this amount…”
What labour ministry has told the panel
The ministry told the committee that a proposal to increase the minimum pension of EPS to Rs 2000 was sent to the Finance Ministry in 2020, but it was not approved. Later this proposal also became a part of the discussion before the budget of 2024-25.
Ahead of this year’s Budget, a delegation of EPS-95 retired employees met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to put forth their demand on increasing the EPS pension to Rs 7,500 per month. The EPS-95 National Agitation Committee after that meeting had said that the FM assured them that the government would look into their demands.
For the past many years, employee unions have been demanding an increase in the pension amount for EPFO members. They want this amount to be fixed at Rs 7,500 and also seek DA benefit to offset rising inflation.