Major relief for retirees as Kerala High Court permits higher EPF pension option

In a significant relief for thousands of pensioners, the Kerala High Court has quashed the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation’s (EPFO) decision that denied the option of a higher pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) to employees who retired before September 1, 2014.

The ruling came while allowing a batch of writ petitions, with Justice P. Gopinath holding that the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in the R.C. Gupta case applies equally to retirees who left service before September 2014.

Gold 101.3FM UAE’s No.1 radio station continues to keep listeners informed with the latest developments from India and around the world, bringing timely updates on important legal, business, and public interest stories.

The High Court noted that the Supreme Court, in its October 4, 2016 judgment in the R.C. Gupta case, had clearly ruled that there was no prescribed time limit for employees to exercise the option of joining the higher pension scheme before September 2014. Based on this interpretation, the court held that eligible retirees cannot be denied the benefit solely because they had not submitted the option before their retirement.

The court further observed that employees who had consistently contributed to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) on salaries higher than the statutory wage ceiling were entitled to have their pension calculated on those higher contributions, provided they satisfied the applicable conditions.

In its judgment, the Kerala High Court also struck down several EPFO decisions that had either denied eligible pensioners the opportunity to opt for a higher pension or had reduced the higher pension benefits already granted. Additionally, the court quashed orders directing pensioners to refund higher pension amounts that had previously been paid, providing further relief to affected retirees.

The court has directed the EPFO to implement the benefits arising from the judgment within four months from July 22, paving the way for eligible pre-September 2014 retirees to seek higher pension benefits under the Employees’ Pension Scheme.