EPFO releases guidelines for EPS members having multiple accounts

The Employee Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), in a latest circular, has issued guidelines to regulate the Employee Pension Scheme (EPS) entitlement of members having multiple account numbers.

The circular, released on Monday, states that whenever an EPS member possesses multiple account numbers for concurrent employment, thus working simultaneously in two or more establishments, the pension from each establishment shall be worked out at the date of exit on an actual basis and pension payable from all establishments shall be aggregated.

“The aggregate pensionable salaries at any point of time shall not exceed the wage ceiling and, as and when it exceeds the wage ceiling, the contribution received on such excess salary shall be diverted to the provident fund account and the minimum pension provisions will only apply on the total pensionable amount,” the circular reads.

Furthermore, the circular directs regional officers of the social security organisation to ensure that the total contributions in the scheme by an individual working in multiple establishments under their jurisdiction shall not exceed contributions payable on the wage ceiling of Rs 15,000 per month. Also, if the wages in a single establishment do exceed Rs 15,000 (with effect from September 1, 2014), then the full 24 per cent Provident Fund (PF) contribution shall be retained in the PF account only.

“The above instructions shall be brought to the notice of all such establishments where such incidence of multiple memberships is more by the concerned Regional Officers, so that in the first instance itself the employer submits the correct Electronic Challan cum Return (ECR)s,” the circular reads.

EPS is a minimum pension scheme launched by the EPFO in 1995 under which a person is eligible for the pension benefit. From September 2014, an individual joining the EPF scheme is eligible to join the EPS if their basic salary does not exceed Rs 15,000 per month. Furthermore, in order to qualify for an EPS monthly pension, an employee must have a minimum of 10 years of contributed service.

The present guidelines are to streamline the claims process, as many times a member has multiple accounts and the contributed amount varies, causing trouble during the calculation of the amount.