New Delhi, Dec 18: The Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has extended the deadline to January 31, 2025, for employers to submit wage details concerning 3.1 lakh pending pension applications related to higher wages.
An online platform was introduced by EPFO for the submission of validation applications for options and joint options for pension on higher wages, as stated by the labour ministry.
This facility is intended for eligible pensioners or members in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling dated November 4, 2022. It was launched on February 26, 2023, and was initially scheduled to remain operational only until May 3, 2023.
However, in response to requests from employees, the deadline was extended to June 26, 2023, providing eligible pensioners/members an additional four months to file their applications.
A final extension of 15 days was granted to help address any challenges they encountered.
Consequently, the last date for application submissions was pushed to July 11, 2023, resulting in a total of 17.49 lakh applications received from pensioners/members by that date.
Given requests from Employers & Employers’ Associations, who sought further extension for uploading wage details, employers were granted several opportunities, first until September 30, 2023, then until December 31, 2023, and subsequently until May 31, 2024.
Despite these numerous extensions, it has been noted that over 3.1 lakh applications for validation of options/joint options remain pending with employers.
Multiple requests have come in from Employers & Employers’ Associations for additional time to comply.
Therefore, the ministry announced a “final opportunity” for employers until January 31, 2025, to process and upload these outstanding applications.
Employers are also urged to provide responses and update information by January 15, 2025, in over 4.66 lakh cases where EPFO has requested further details or clarifications regarding applications that have been received and assessed by EPFO. (Agencies)
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