RTI for EPFO: EPS-95 Higher Pension Application Status & Pension Arrears

The Employees' Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) is a monthly lifetime pension scheme administered by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) under the Ministry of Labour and Employment. In November 2022, the Supreme Court of India delivered a landmark judgment upholding the right of eligible EPFO members to opt for pension calculated on their actual salary — not the artificially capped ₹15,000 per month ceiling. This opened a joint option window for employees and their employers. Since then, hundreds of thousands of applications have been filed with EPFO Regional Offices across India, but many remain unresolved — with no revised pension, no official rejection, and no communication on the status.

EPFO is a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005. The Right to Information Act gives every citizen the right to demand information held by public authorities within 30 days. For EPS-95 higher pension applicants, RTI is one of the most effective tools available to compel EPFO to account for delays, disclose the pension calculation, verify employer contribution records, and determine the arrears payable.

The Supreme Court Judgment and What It Means

In its November 2022 judgment in Employees' Provident Fund Organisation & Anr. vs. Sunil Kumar B. & Ors. (Civil Appeal Nos. 8658–8659 of 2019), the Supreme Court held that:

1. Employees who were members of EPFO as on 1 September 2014 could exercise a joint option with their employer to contribute to EPS-95 on their actual salary, not the ₹15,000 ceiling.
2. The option had to be exercised jointly — by both employee and employer — and submitted to the EPFO Regional Office within the window opened by EPFO in compliance with the judgment.
3. Employees who retired before 1 September 2014 and whose employers had already been contributing on actual salary also had a window to regularise their higher pension.

The result of a valid higher pension option is that the monthly pension is computed on actual salary (60-month average) instead of ₹15,000 — which can multiply the pension amount several times. The employer is also required to make good the differential EPS contribution — the gap between what was deposited at the ₹15,000 ceiling and what should have been deposited on actual salary — for all past years.

Common Problems RTI Can Resolve

Understanding the Revised Pension Calculation

The EPS-95 pension formula is:

Monthly Pension = (Pensionable Salary × Pensionable Service) ÷ 70

Under the higher pension option:

• Pensionable Salary becomes the average of the member's actual monthly salary in the last 60 months of EPS-95 membership (instead of being capped at ₹15,000)
• Pensionable Service remains total years of EPS-95 membership, up to 35 years, with a 2-year bonus for members with 20 or more years of pensionable service

For a member with 30 years of service and an actual average salary of ₹50,000 per month, the revised pension under higher option would be approximately ₹21,400 per month — versus roughly ₹6,400 per month under the ₹15,000 ceiling. The difference is significant, and so is the interest in verifying the exact calculation through RTI.

RTI can also reveal whether the employer correctly reported actual wages through Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR) filings over the years, or whether under-reporting of salary will reduce the higher pension benefit.

Where to File the RTI

File your RTI online at rtionline.gov.in:

1. Select Ministry of Labour and Employment → Employees' Provident Fund Organisation
2. Choose the Regional or Sub-Regional Office corresponding to your PF account prefix (DL/CPM for Delhi; MH/BAN for Mumbai Bandra; KA/BNG for Bengaluru; and so on)
3. If your application was centrally processed by the EPFO Head Office, address the RTI to: CPIO, EPFO Head Office, Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14-Bhikaiji Cama Place, New Delhi – 110066
4. Include your UAN, full PF account number, and date of joint option application in the RTI
5. Pay ₹10 online. BPL cardholders are exempt under the RTI (Regulation of Fee and Cost) Rules, 2005

What Information to Request

Joint option application status:

1. Date of receipt and current processing stage of joint option application for UAN XXX
2. Whether a demand for differential EPS contribution has been raised on the employer — demand notice number, date, and amount
3. Whether the employer has paid the differential — full, partial, or nil — with amounts
4. Name and designation of the officer currently holding the file

Pension calculation: 5. Year-wise actual salary reported by the employer through ECR filings for the member 6. Revised Pensionable Salary (60-month average of actual salary) and the revised monthly pension amount 7. Difference between current pension (₹15,000-capped) and revised pension under actual salary

Arrears: 8. Total arrears due from the effective date of the joint option to the date of pension revision, along with the calculation methodology 9. Whether interest on arrears is admissible and, if so, the rate

Aggregate data (for transparency): 10. Total higher pension joint option applications received, approved, pending, and rejected at the Regional Office — and reasons for rejection in aggregate

Appeals

First Appeal (Section 19(1)): If EPFO does not respond within 30 days or the response is incomplete or evasive, file a First Appeal with the First Appellate Authority (FAA) at EPFO within 30 days of the date of decision or expiry of the 30-day response period, whichever is applicable.

Second Appeal (Section 19(3)): If the FAA's decision is also unsatisfactory, file a Second Appeal with the Central Information Commission (CIC) within 90 days. EPFO is a Central Government statutory body under the Ministry of Labour and Employment — second appeal goes to the CIC, not any State Information Commission.

Penalty: The CIC has the power under Section 20 of the RTI Act to impose a penalty of up to ₹25,000 on the CPIO for wilfully withholding information, providing false information, or obstructing an information request. In cases of persistent delay on a clear matter such as an applicant's own pension records, this penalty provision is a meaningful deterrent.