With just three days left to Monday’s deadline to register for higher pension with the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), applicants and employers continue to grapple with multiple technical snags which are becoming an obstacle in submitting the application through the unified EPFO portal, according to several media reports.
Read here: EPFO extends deadline to apply for higher pension till June 26
To ensure the ease of process for applicants, several employers have petitioned to extend the deadline and simplify the process.
Apart from technical glitches, concerns regarding the inability of the Universal Account Number (UAN) to fetch an employee’s complete service record for being considered for higher pension still persist and grievances raised to EPFO’s email ids for employer and employee feedback are not getting any response, according to a report by Times of India.
Moreover, people are still in the state of confusion on various issues surrounding the process like calculation and payment, resolving discrepancies between wage records maintained at the EPFO level and at the employer level. People are still unclear about what would happen if one of the employers is no longer in existence or has merged. Experts say that because of the above stated reasons, the deadline may be extended again, although the chances are low as it has already been extended twice.
Read here: Deadline for Higher EPS pension on June 26. Here’s how to calculate the amount
The Supreme Court’s November 2022 order allowed employees who were part of the EPFO before or on September 1, 2014, but could not apply for a higher pension, to submit fresh options within four months. The deadline was initially extended until May 3, 2023, and then further extended to June 26, 2023.