Pressure is mounting on the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to extend the deadline for submitting joint option for higher pension with several associations and trade unions seeking a review of the May 3 deadline.
Central trade unions as well as retiree associations have now sought an extension in the due date citing problems in filing the joint option form, including mandatory online filing and submission. However, the EPFO, which had earlier extended the deadline by two months, is unlikely to extend it further.
In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Bhupender Yadav, 10 central trade unions have sought a six-month extension in the deadline. “The requirement of applying online is discriminatory and prevents a large section of employees who are not familiar with online procedures from exercising their option,” they said in the letter.
The unions also called for scrapping the requirement of proof for higher contribution to be provided by the employee in the online application, pointing out that the EPFO already has data on the contributions by the employers and employees.
“We have got a lot of complaints that online filing is not happening. Many companies have also shut down and members are finding it difficult to get in touch with them. The difficulties being faced were also highlighted in the meeting of the Central Board of Trustees where it was suggested that the EPFO should set up help centres for retirees to fill the form,” said Harbhajan Singh Sidhu, general secretary, Hind Mazdoor Sabha.
Meanwhile, the National Confederation of Retirees, which is an association of around 125 corporate retired employees welfare associations, has written to Central Provident Fund Commissioner Neelam Shami Rao, seeking a three-month extension in the deadline till August 3 and permission to submit the forms in hard copy or physical mode.
“We have been receiving feedback from all corners of the country that EPFO Unified Portal through which the joint option forms along with attachments are to be submitted is not working smoothly. Though some improvements were made in the recent past weeks after feedback from the retirees and we appreciate that, but unfortunately still it is not very user friendly,” the confederation said in a recent letter.
Previously, the Standing Conference of Public Sector Enterprises (SCOPE) also wrote to the EPFO to consider extending the deadline by at least a month, pointing that a large number of members and retirees have been facing challenges in filing the application.
Following the Supreme Court ruling in November last year, the EPFO had issued the procedure for applying for higher pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme under the joint option. In its order, the Supreme Court had given a four-month window to eligible employees to apply for higher pension. However, since the EPFO came out with the guidelines close to the end of the four-month period, it had decided to extend it by another two months.