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The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has granted a final extension for employers to process and upload pending applications for the Validation of Options/Joint Options related to pensions on higher wages.
According to the Ministry of Ministry of Labour & Employment, this extension follows multiple requests from employers and their associations for more time to complete the required submissions. The online facility for submitting applications was initially launched on February 26, 2023, in compliance with the Supreme Court's order dated November 4, 2022. Originally available until May 3, 2023, the deadline was first extended to June 26, 2023, to allow a full four months for eligible pensioners and members to submit their applications. A further grace period of 15 days was granted, with the final deadline for application submissions set for July 11, 2023. As a result, EPFO received a total of 17.49 lakh applications by that date. Despite multiple extensions for submitting the necessary wage details, EPFO has observed that over 3.1 lakh applications remain pending. Employers have faced challenges in uploading the required wage data, prompting further representations to extend the deadline. In response, EPFO has now set a final deadline of January 31, 2025, for employers to process and upload the remaining applications. In addition to the deadline extension for pending applications, EPFO has also requested employers to provide updates or clarifications in over 4.66 lakh cases where additional information has been sought. Employers are expected to respond by January 15, 2025, to ensure that the process is completed smoothly and in compliance with the Supreme Court's directive. This extension provides employers with the final opportunity to ensure all pending applications for pension validation are processed and uploaded, fulfilling their obligations under the Supreme Court's ruling. (ANI)
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