The Bombay High Court set aside rejection orders affecting 46 retirees’ joint options for pension on higher wages, ruling that employer trust rules alone could not bar options under the statutory scheme.
Justice Sandeep V. Marne issued the ruling Monday, Oct. 19, in six connected petitions under paragraphs 11(3) and 11(4) of the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995 (EPS-95). He directed the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to process and allow the applications within eight weeks.
EPFO relied on a Jan. 18, 2025, circular directing officials to consider existing trust rules when reviewing higher-pension applications from exempted establishments. Some trusts capped contributions or lacked provisions for contributions tied to higher-wage options. Some rejection orders also cited missing forms or records.
Marne treated provident-fund trust rules and the statutory pension scheme as separate, unless an establishment also had an exemption from the pension scheme. Where employers could not provide records, the court said authorities should consider other ways to verify applications, including giving employees an opportunity to be heard.
The judgment’s caption lists 39 applicants in the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) Undertaking petition, as well as petitioners connected to Abbott India Limited, Raymond Steel Limited, Tata Communications Ltd. and Tata Communication Transformation Service Ltd.
The order applies to the 46 petitioners and does not determine eligibility for other EPFO members. It leaves each applicant’s pension amount and payment start date open. The court did not decide who must fund any contribution shortfall; in the Tata Communications case, it found that the employer had made provident-fund contributions on basic pay above the statutory wage ceiling and rejected EPFO’s contribution objection.
The Bombay High Court also cited the Supreme Court’s Nov. 4, 2022, decision in Employees Provident Fund Organisation v. Sunil Kumar B. and others in discussing eligible employees’ options for pensions based on higher wages. The order gives EPFO eight weeks to process and allow the applications but does not specify when that period begins.
