EPS Pension Hike: The central government is planning to increase the minimum pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) from ₹1,000 to ₹3,000 per month.
A senior government official informed Moneycontrol that this decision could be implemented in the next few months.
What is EPS?
EPS (Employees’ Pension Scheme) is a retirement plan for employees in the organized sector in India.
Managed by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), it aims to provide a fixed monthly income after retirement for private sector employees.
Government Plans to Raise Pension to ₹3,000
A senior government official mentioned, “We are planning to raise the minimum pension to ₹3,000 per month.
This has been pending for a long time.” In 2020, the Ministry of Labour had proposed increasing the minimum pension to ₹2,000, but it was not approved by the Finance Ministry.
Demand for ₹7,500 Pension
During the pre-budget discussions in 2025, a group of retired EPS employees requested Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to increase the minimum pension to ₹7,500.
However, no promise was made regarding this demand.
Currently, the total EPS fund exceeds ₹8 lakh crore, and there are around 78.5 lakh pensioners under this scheme.
Of these, 36.6 lakh pensioners are receiving the minimum pension of just ₹1,000 per month.
Financial Impact Under Review
The government is still assessing the extra cost of increasing the pension to ₹3,000.
In FY 2023-24, the government spent ₹1,223 crore to provide minimum pensions, which is 26% higher than the ₹970 crore spent in FY 2023.
Since 2014, the government has been providing a subsidy to ensure that pensioners receive at least ₹1,000 per month.
If a member’s pension is less than ₹1,000, the government pays the difference.
Opinions from Experts and Parliamentary Committee
A parliamentary committee, led by BJP MP Basavaraj Bommai, recently urged the Labour Ministry to raise the minimum EPS pension due to rising inflation.
Akhil Chandna, partner at Grant Thornton India, said, “Increasing the minimum pension would be a great move, especially for low-income retired employees and their families.”
