Found an error in your Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) contributions during settlement? Fret not, because the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) recently issued a set of guidelines to tackle this exact issue.
In a circular issued last week, the EPFO has set out a detailed procedure for rectifying errors in pension contributions, which often show up only later, during settlements.
This comes after complaints of pension settlement issues being handled poorly, which leads back to such errors in contributions.
Errors involving ineligible EPS members
In cases where EPS contributions were wrongly remitted for ineligible employees, the provident fund agency said that the incorrect pension amount would be recalculated, along with interest at a rate declared by the organisation they were working for.
In the case of unexempted establishments, the total amount will be transferred from the pension account (PA) to the provident fund account (PFA), and the corresponding pension service will be deleted from the member’s record.
For exempted establishments, the wrongly remitted amount will be transferred—along with applicable interest—from the PA to the respective PF Trust, while also removing the incorrect pension service from the member employee's account.
Errors involving eligible EPS members
In cases that involve eligible EPS employees—who were still wrongly excluded from the EPS—the pension contributions, along with applicable interest, would be transferred to the pension account, the EPFO said.
In the case of unexempted establishments, the total amount will be transferred from the provident fund account (PFA) to the pension account (PA). Also, the member’s pension service will be credited to their accounts, taking into account the non-contributory period (if applicable).
For exempted establishments, the due amount will be transferred—along with applicable interest—from the respective PA Trust to the PA. The member employee's pension service records will then be updated accordingly.