Minimum pension under EPFO now Rs 1,000 per month





Wage Ceiling Raised To Rs 15,000

The Centre has decided to implement two crucial decisions — minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 and a higher wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 for social security schemes run by retirement fund manager EPFO — from September 1.

These decisions were cleared by the previous UPA-2 cabinet on February 28, but could not be implemented since the Lok Sabha election dates were announced on March 5.

After the NDA government came to power, these decisions were at the top of the Union labour ministry's 100-day action plan. The minimum Rs 1,000 monthly pension under the Employees' Pension Scheme 1995 (EPFS-95) will benefit about 28 lakh pensioners, including five lakh widows.

There are 44 lakh pensioners under the EPFO scheme.

The Central Board of Trustees (CBT), EPFO's apex decision making body, met on February 5 and decided to amend the EPS-95 scheme.

The move to enhance the minimum wage ceiling for becoming a subscriber to Employees' Provident Fund Organisation to Rs 15,000 per month from the existing Rs 6,500 is expected to bring 50 lakh additional formal sector workers under its ambit.

"The government has notified enhancement of wage ceiling to Rs 15,000 per month, fixed minimum monthly pension at Rs 1,000 under EPS-95 and enhanced the maximum sum assured under the Employees' Deposit Linked Insurance (EDLI) Scheme to Rs 3 lakh," EPFO's Central Provident Fund Commissioner K K Jalan told reporters. Now, the maximum sum assured under the EDLI works out to be Rs 3.6 lakh, including 20% ad hoc benefit over the prescribed amount under the notification. That is, if an EPFO subscriber dies, his family will be entitled to maximum sum assured of Rs 3.6 lakh instead of the existing Rs 1.56 lakh. Jalan said the notification regarding minimum pension, wage ceiling and EDLI would come into effect from September 1.

Now, only one ID proof to open bank account

The Reserve Bank of India has, as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push for financial inclusion, relaxed `know your customer' (KYC) norms to open new bank accounts. The RBI said there would be no need for applicants to submit separate documents for address and identity proof to open a savings account. The central bank has directed banks to accept a single document, like a driving licence, which contains the applicant's photograph and address to open an account. TNN