A fresh wave of anxiety has gripped a section of Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) beneficiaries after the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) reportedly began cancelling higher pension benefits granted to certain retirees who left service before 2014 and subsequently received enhanced pensions through court orders.

The move has triggered outrage among pensioners, many of whom are now being asked to return lakhs of rupees that they had been receiving as part of their revised pension entitlements for years.

According to notices issued by the EPFO, the higher pension benefits are being withdrawn on the grounds that the retirees had not exercised the joint option with their employers before retirement. The organisation has also sought recovery of the additional pension amount already paid, directing beneficiaries to refund the money in a lump sum.

For elderly pensioners dependent on their monthly payouts to meet essential expenses, including medical treatment, the demand has come as a severe financial blow.

One such case has emerged from Thiruvananthapuram, where a retired senior journalist was instructed to repay Rs 2,90,336. The notice reportedly asked him to obtain a demand draft for the amount and submit it to the office of the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner.

The pensioner had retired in 2011 and had secured a higher pension based on his actual salary after pursuing legal remedies. After drawing the enhanced pension for nearly 15 years, he has now been directed to refund the excess amount paid to him.

EPFO's action is understood to be based on the Supreme Court's November 2022 judgment on the higher pension issue. As per the ruling, employees who retired before September 1, 2014, without submitting a valid joint option are ineligible for higher pension benefits under the Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS-95). The court ruled that only those who explicitly exercised the joint option for higher contributions under the pre-amendment scheme are entitled to this benefit.

However, affected pensioners argue that the recovery notices run contrary to the spirit of earlier Supreme Court and High Court rulings that enabled them to receive pensions linked to their actual salaries.

They contend that employees rely on employers to deposit provident fund contributions and complete procedural formalities, including filing necessary documents. If employers failed to submit the joint option within the prescribed period, pensioners say workers should not be penalised years after retirement for lapses beyond their control.

It may be noted that several court rulings have held that the EPFO cannot deny the EPS-95 higher pension option or reject claims solely because an employer failed to submit statutory records or process joint option applications.