Universal Pension Scheme: New EPFO scheme may cover unorganised workers

If the scheme gets approved, the unorganised sector workers will put in a fixed amount with a flexibility of making voluntary payments.

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) may extend its pension scheme to workers from both organised and unorganised sectors, irrespective of their monthly income, the Financial Express reported.

The proposed scheme is likely to be based on individual contribution. The government, through this scheme, seeks to ensure a minimum pension of Rs 3,000 a month after reaching 60 years of age to each worker.

The new scheme, likely to be called Universal Pension Scheme (UPS), intends to fix the existing lacunas in the current Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS), like no coverage for employees earning above Rs 15,000 a month, a