EPS-95 Pension: The golden years of life are the stage when the means to earn and independent resources dwindle and the expenses concerning health showers upward in a circle of increasing costs. This scenario leaves pension plans as a lifeline to manage self-sufficiency in terms of finances. A large number of retired employees find financial security in EPS-95 of India, that is Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995.
This scheme is administered by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) and aims to ensure a regular source for the income of employees after they leave service or retire. Recently, there have been reports of increased amounts of pension being enhanced under this scheme-an excellent relief to millions of pensioners. Currently, pensioners get a maximum pension of up to Rs 7,500 under this scheme but in the present age of inflation, the amount is not enough to be lived. Therefore, a long query regarding an increase of pension was raised which is now being considered by the concerned government.
Current System Of Pension
At present, a main drawback of this EPS-95 scheme is that the minimum amount of pension is limited to Rs1,000, which barely suffices in today’s inflationary times. In fact, in such small amounts, survival is next to impossible for an aged individual. Medicines, food, and everyday expenses touch on way beyond that. Another big problem, however, is that it doesn’t contain any dearness allowance (DA), while central government employees also have this added on their pension after they retire.
Without dearness allowance, income remains constant for pensioners, while the prices of goods and services keep increasing. Besides this, the current salary cut-off for calculation of the pension is Rs 15,000, fixed back in 2014. Meanwhile, the government has increased the salary many times and inflation too has increased, but this limit is still the same. This is because, on the basis of Rs 15,000, his contribution is calculated and thus he ultimately gets less pension.
Proposed Changes
Now, good news is that the government is planning important things in the EPS-95 scheme. First and foremost, increase the salary limit of EPS-95 from Rs 15,000 to Rs 21,000. This change will affect the calculation of pension because pensioners will be able to get more amount. Currently, as per the formula, pension = (pensionable salary x service period)/70.
EPS-95 Scheme
The process of application for obtaining pension under the EPS-95 scheme is quite simple. There are only two options retired employees have to fill in Form 10D visiting the EPFO official site or through EPFO office nearest to him/her. This form is to be attached along with all required documents, like identity proof, bank details, and a copy of the Aadhaar card. The applicants can check the status of their applications in the EPFO website after submitting their applications.
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