Amendments to the Employees' Pension Scheme cannot impose retrospective cut-off dates for exercising pension options, affirming beneficiaries' rights established prior to amendments.

ORDER :

Narendra Kumar Vyas, J.

1. Since an identical issue and common question of facts and law are involved in the bunch of these writ petitions, they are heard analogously and are being decided by this common order.

2. The petitioners have filed the present petitions challenging the legality and validity of letters issued by the respondent – Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation, Regional Office, Raipur (C.G.), whereby the respondent authority has discontinued the higher pension previously granted to them and started paying lower pension as detailed in the subsequent paragraph.

3. The petitioners have claimed following reliefs:-

(a) Issuance of direction to respondent No.1 to restore the higher pension to the petitioners and also to pay the arrears with interest @ 18% for delayed payment.

(b) The petitioners have also prayed for issuance of direction to the EPF Organisation to extend the date 26.06.2023 of filling application regarding pension on higher wages.

Or alternatively,

(c) They seek direction to the EPF Organisation to return the entire contributory amount of the petitioners along with the interest @ of 20%.

4. For the sake of convenience, facts of WPS No. 4132 of 2023 are taken into consideration for deciding the issue involved in the present writ petition as lead case.

5. The brief facts as projected by the petitioner are that :-

(a) He was employed in Zila Sahkari Kendriya Bank Maryadit, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur (C.G.)/respondent No.2. He joined service on 14.06.1976 and retired on 30.11.2014. During his service tenure, he was a member of the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 and the schemes framed thereunder.

(b) Initially, his monthly pension was sanctioned at Rs. 2,190/- by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (in short “the EPFO”). The Government of India, Ministry of Labour amended the paragraph 11 of the Employees Pension Scheme, 1995 w.e.f. 01.09.2014 and has amended para 11 as under :-

“11(4) The existing members as on the 1^st day of September, 2014, who at the option of the employer and employee, had been contributing on salary exceeding six thousand and five hundred rupees per month, may or a fresh option to be exercised jointly by the employer and employee continue to contribute on salary exceeding fifteen thousand rupees per month and the pensionable salary for the existing members who prefer such fresh option shall be based on the higher salary.

Provided that the aforesaid members have to contribute at the rate of 1.16 percent on salary exceeding fifteen thousand rupees as an additional contribution from and out of the contribution s payable by the employees for each month under the provisions of the Act or the rules made thereunder.

Provided further that the fresh option shall be exercised by the member within a period of six months from the 1^st day of September, 2014:

Provided also that the period specified in the second proviso may, on sufficient cause being shown by the member, be extended by the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner for a further period not exceeding six months:

Provided also that if no option is exercised by the member within such period (including the extended period ), ti shall be deemed that the member has not opted for contribution over wage ceiling and the contributions to the Pension Fund made over the wage ceiling in respect of the member shall be diverted to the Provident Fund account of the member along with interest as declared u