What Will Happen To Pensions Of EPS member Having Multiple Account Numbers? Check New EPFO Guidelines

New Delhi: Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has recently released guidelines for EPS members having multiple account numbers, mentioning how their pensions would be worked out in such a scenario.

The Retirement fund body said that whenever an EPS member possesses multiple account number for concurrent employment, simultaneously in two or more establishments, the following shall be followed.

a. Pension from each establishment has to be worked out at the date of exit on actual basis

b. Pension payable from all establishments shall be aggregated provided that aggregate of pensionable salaries at any point of time shall not exceed wage ceiling and as and when it exceeds wage ceiling the contribution recieved on such excess salary shall be diverted to the PF account

c. The minimum pension criteria will be applied to aggregated pension i.e, only on the total pension amount

The EPFO releasing its guidelines on 29 January 2024 with the subject titled, "EPS entitlement of members having Multiple Account Numbers", said that when a member becomes member of EPS on account of his wages on the date of joining being not more than the wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 upon his joining another establishment without exiting from the first establishment at a later date, the RO where the other establishment is covered shall be responsible to ensure that total contribution to EPS shall not exceed contribution payable on wage ceiling of Rs 15,000.

Further it shall be ensured that with effect from 01 September 2014, if the wages in a single establishment exceeds Rs 15,000 or aggregate of wages at the time of joining exceeds Rs 15,000 in multiple establishments (concurrently and simultaneously), the full 24 percent PF contribution shall be retained in Provident Fund account only, as in such cases, the member shall not be eligible for member of EPS, 1995.

EPFO has instructed that the above instructions should be brought to the notice of all such establishments where such incidence of multiple memberships is more by the concerned ROs so that in the first instance itself the employers submit correct ECRs.

“As in other cases, the pension shall be calculated ad PPO shall be issued by the RO from where the members finally exits EPS, 1995. Similary, if there are two overlapping memberships, the RO where the member has joined subsequently shall be responsible to comply with instructions as at PARA 3,” EPFO has added.