Higher EPS pension: Pensioners seek PM Modi’s intervention over EPFO's stance on higher pension cases

Despite the Supreme Court upholding the right of employees to opt for the higher Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) by contributing to the EPS on a higher salary, not many people in India are getting a higher EPS pension.

And now the National Confederation of Pensioner Associations (NCPA), a body that claims to represent 1 lakh pensioners from Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and the private sector, wants Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene and resolve higher EPS pension issues for PSU employees and certain exempted establishment employees.

In a letter written to PM Modi last month, the NCPA has raised many higher pension-related demands that include- withdrawing the Employees’ Pension Fund Organisation’s January 18, 2025, circular; stopping litigations and ‘discriminatory’ rejection of higher pension claims; waiving off delay-related interest/penalties; and establishing a mechanism to clear pending higher EPS pension applications.


BN Agrawal, president, NCPA, who has drafted the letter, told ET Wealth Online that because of pending higher EPS pension cases, many PSU employees, who retired even at high-level ranks, are getting Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 monthly EPS pension.

Citing the example of Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Agrawal said that within a PSU, the EPFO has allowed higher pensions for pensioners at some centres, while at other places, it doesn’t allow it.

Agrawal also claims that the EPFO didn’t clear higher EPS pension applications of pensioners from exempted establishments that strictly followed the government's trust-related rules on wage ceiling.

What does the pensioners' body want from PM Modi?

The NCPA’s first demand is to withdraw an EPFO circular dated January 18, 2025.

The circular says that the eligibility for pension on higher wage cases should be determined on the basis of the extant trust rules of the exempted establishments, in consonance with the directions of Hon'ble Supreme Court in the Anil Kumar case in 2022.

The circular says, “Further, in case the trust rules are amended, post decision dated November 04, 2022 in Sunil Kumar Case, applications of members of such trusts may not be considered.”

The pensioner body argues that the circular forces the EPFO's field offices across the country to reject Pension on Higher Wages (PoHW) applications if the historical internal trust rules of an exempted establishment strictly mirrored the statutory wage ceilings as notified by the government from time to time.

“It is a settled principle of administrative law that an executive body cannot use circulars to retroactively alter the ground rules or dilute rights already vested by the Hon'ble Supreme Court judgments,” the NCPA says while asking the government to withdraw the EPFO circular.

Supremacy of Parliamentary legislation over internal rules

In its argument against the EPFO circular, the pensioner body writes that following the Apex Court's 2022 judgment, the division bench of the Madras High Court (on July 9, 2026) firmly established that internal trust rules of exempted establishments are merely administrative arrangements for the Employees' Provident Fund and cannot override parent legislation approved by Parliament for pension fund and higher pension entitlements under EPS-95.

Pensioner body says EPFO created class within a class

The NCPA says that in the EPFO Vs Sunil Kumar B. case in 2022, the Apex Court explicitly ruled that employees of exempted and un-exempted establishments constitute 'one single class' for pension purposes.

The pensioner body claims that the EPFO has adopted a 'pick and choose' policy and created a 'class within a class,' as pensioners from certain exempted establishments, whose trust rules were silent on ceiling wages, are being granted higher pension.

The letter further says that the retirees of un-exempted establishments are also enjoying higher pension, but pensioners from other exempted establishments that strictly followed the government's notifications and schemes are being rejected on the reference of ceiling wages in trust rules.

"Denying pension on higher wages to the members of isolated and deprived class of exempted establishments based purely on the technical existence of internal trust rules, is a blatant constitutional violation," reads the letter.

Judicial consensus on higher pension

The NCPA writes that post-Supreme Court verdict in 2022, there are about 250+ writ petitions and writ appeals pending in 18 High Courts, and about 25 judgements related to higher pensions have already been delivered by 10 High Courts.

"The EPFO's current stance directly collides with the law of the land as settled by the Hon'ble Supreme Court and uniformly reaffirmed by multiple High Courts," writes the pensioner body.

The pensioner body further writes that the EPFO's stance in the higher EPS pension is in direct violation of the National Litigation Policy, which explicitly commands government departments and statutory bodies to avoid repetitive litigation, stop fighting settled matters and refrain from litigation for the sake of litigation.

In its three-point demands from PM Modi, the pensioner body wants the government to-

1. Withdrawal of EPFO's circular dated January 18, 2025.
2. Carry out a litigation audit and withdraw all frivolous appeals in the High Courts and Supreme Court where the law is already settled in favour of senior citizens, aligning with the National Litigation Policy.
3. Accept the applications for pension on higher wages without punitive interest and penalties accrued due to administrative indecision and establish a time-bound redressal cell to clear pending applications.