The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation is ramping up initiatives to reduce the backlog of higher pension applications, but lacks a firm deadline for completion, leaving many applicants in limbo.
The government has said the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation is stepping up efforts to clear a backlog of higher pension claims, but it has not set a fresh deadline for every pending case. In a Lok Sabha response reported by Business Today, the labour ministry said the EPFO is using an online facility for joint options, processing applications under the applicable rules, issuing directions to regional offices and holding regular video conferences to track progress. The response suggests the system is under active review, even as many members continue to wait for decisions.
The online route for submitting joint options was introduced after the Supreme Court’s judgment on higher pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme. It was meant to make it easier for eligible employees and pensioners to exercise the option through the EPFO platform, but the application still has to be checked against contribution records, employer data and other requirements before any higher pension is confirmed. That means filing is only the first step, not a guarantee of approval.
The scale of the task remains large. Outlook Money reported that by 16 July 2025, EPFO had processed 98.5% of about 1.5 million higher-wage pension applications, though 72.3% of the processed cases were rejected, underlining how tightly the scheme’s eligibility rules have been applied. Earlier reporting by Business Standard said the organisation had also extended deadlines for employers to upload pending forms, after hundreds of thousands of cases were still unresolved.
The latest government update points to a continued push from the centre and regional offices, rather than an immediate clean-up of every file. EPFO has been told to dispose of higher-wage pension cases in a timely manner and is reviewing progress through its zonal and regional network. But without a universal deadline for final clearance or arrears payment, the message for applicants is that processing is continuing, not that the queue has disappeared.
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