EPS 95 PENSION HIKE NEWS | HIGHER PENSION
EPFO is playing an intellectual after thought tactics of blissful ignorance akin to asking the story to be retold after the same was told fully. 30 months have lapsed since the Division Bench of Kerala High Court after two years long examination of the case quashed in toto the 2014 Amendments to EPS 1995. The said Judgement of the Division Bench mandated the EPFO to accept EPS contribution on actual salary basis from those who opt for it and distribute eligible pension accordingly. Pending of Review Petition by the EPFO against the Judgement of the Supreme Court upholding the impugned Judgment of the Kerala High Court is not a legally justifiable reason for the EPFO for not implementing the KHC Order across the Nation. Which is why the spate of Contempt of Court Cases filed by numerous affected petitioners against the EPFO who did not implement the Orders, were disposed off in favor of the petitioners.
Despite all these, the Ministry of Labour and Employment is doing injustice tantamount to cheating the EPF and EPS members by not honoring the Judicial Orders and not notifying the required amendments to the rules. It is beyond doubt that Ministry of Labor is encouraging the EPFO to postpone ad infinitum implementation of Judicial Orders and sabotage discharge of justice. One can not be blamed for his genuine doubt about the merciless mindset of the Government and the EPFO who appear to be waiting for the natural death of those hapless pensioners who have been crying for their rightful better pension than the present pittance.
The latest argument put forward by the EPFO to thwart the EPS 1995 is very strange. They argue that the provision for availing pension based on the actual salary by remitting the arrears of differential contribution with interest now is detrimental to the interest of those EPS members who remitted their due contribution to the scheme based on actual salary ab initio. With this they are trying to sanctify those illegal amendments to the Scheme which were set aside with strong reservations by the Supreme Court. The Judgement of the Supreme Court in 2016 SLP has categorically directed the EPFO not to make the benign employee welfare friendly EPS 1995 an employee hostile one by their irrational imposition of restrictive conditions of dividing pensioners into different classes, cut off date for submitting statutory options etc.
Employees were compelled to make huge sum of fund to EPFO towards arrear contribution based on their actual wages with prescribed interest either after their retirement or at the time of retirement because of the imposition of the ceiling for pensionable salary, cut off date for submitting option for full salary contribution etc. It is when the Supreme Court and High Courts of India clarified that these indiscriminate conditions are illegal that the EPS members were allowed to make such lumpsum arrear contributions to EPS 1995. It is as per the direction of the Apex Court of the Country that both retired and serving EPS 1995 members remit the contribution based on their actual wages. It looks strange that this state of affairs created by the illegal action of the EPFO is detrimental to the interest of those who otherwise remitted their contribution to EPS 1995 based on their salary without any statutory ceiling. The EPFO is hiding the fact that 2014 amendments to the Scheme denied even this miniscule pension benefit to those who draw monthly salary above Rs 15,000/-
Lately, a Division Bench of Kerala High Court, considering the argument of the EPFO for its face value has referred to the Full Bench of the High Court the Writ Appeal filed the EPFO against the judgements in a bunch of similar Writ Petitions, seeking examination and judgement on the argument of the EPFO that extension of benefit of pension proportionate to the actual salary as directed by the Supreme Court and High Court would detrimentally affect the interest of those pensioners who remitted their contribution on actual salary basis ab initio thereby depleting the pension fund corpus.
This has created an unfortunate stalemate for those pensioners who had remitted their due past contribution with interest as calculated and directed by the EPFO and are waiting for their revised pension accordingly. Delayed justice is denied justice is a dictum upheld by the Apex Court. The Authorities should not be unmindful to the grave injustice meted out to these senior citizens who are crying for justice in the evening of their life. At least at this late and last stage, the Centre should come forward to notify the required amendments to the Scheme in accordance with the directions of Supreme Court Judgement in 2016 and Kerala High Court Judgement in 2018. This is the felt need of the day of not only the EPF pensioners but of the of the crores of EPF members.
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