A pension after retirement gives great relief to elders. Empowered with a pension, one can enjoy the post-retirement life without any stress on the monetary front. So, if you are an employee of a private company and think only a government employee gets a pension then you are wrong. Employee’s Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) made provision of pension for private organization’s employees under EPS (Employees’ Pension Scheme).
What is EPS?
The EPS is a scheme by EPFO, which aims at social security of all employees. This scheme is for the pension of the employees working in the organized sector, after their retirement at 58 years.
What’s the criteria to avail the pension post-retirement?
The benefits of this scheme are only to be availed if the employee has served for a minimum of (continuous or non-continuous) 10 years. EPS pension was made available from 1995 and later retained for existing and newly joined EPF employees since.
The individual should-
- An EPFO member
- Complete 10 years of active service along with equal years of active contribution towards the EPF pension Scheme
- Be 58 years or above
- Have attained at least 50 years of age to withdraw from the EPS pension at a lower rate
- Delay withdrawing the pension for by 2 years, i.e., till he or she is 60 years, to become eligible to get EPS pension at a rate of 4% annually
You can check here- https://mis.epfindia.gov.in/PensionPaymentEnquiry/enquiry.jsp
What if one changes his jobs?
Previously, while switching employment, you had to submit out two form- ‘Form 11’ to certify that you are a member of EPF schemes and Form 13 to have your PF balance moved from the previous company to the current firm.
If one has existing Universal Account Number (UAN) and Aadhaar number with KYC in the EPF database, a composite Form 11 is enough for the both functions.
Also Read: EPFO mulls increasing equity exposure limit to 25% days after cut in interest rate