Do you mean that any employee who was receiving rupees 15000 salary is eligible for EPS 95 Higher pension?make it clear.

Ans: Yes, an employee in India who was receiving a salary of Rs. 15,000 is eligible for EPS 95 Higher Pension, provided they meet the following criteria:
• They must have been a member of the EPS 95 scheme before September 1, 2014.
• They must have filed a joint option form with their employer to contribute 8.33% of their salary to the EPS, even if their salary is above Rs. 15,000.
• They must have completed at least 10 years of service in the EPF scheme.
If an employee meets all of these criteria, they will be eligible to receive a higher pension amount, which is calculated based on their average salary for the last 10 years of service. The higher pension amount is also subject to a minimum pension of Rs. 1,000 per month.
It is important to note that the deadline to file a joint option form for EPS 95 Higher Pension was February 28, 2015. Therefore, employees who were members of the EPS 95 scheme before September 1, 2014, but did not file a joint option form by February 28, 2015, were not eligible for the higher pension amount as per earlier guidelines. However, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has recently allowed EPF contributors to get a higher pension by following some guidelines even now much after 2015.
The Supreme Court of India ruled in November 2022 that the EPFO's decision to cap the EPS contribution at Rs. 15,000 was illegal. The court ordered the EPFO to allow employees who were members of the EPS 95 scheme before September 1, 2014, to opt for a higher pension by filing a joint option form with their employer.
The EPFO issued a circular clarifying the guidelines for employees who want to opt for a higher pension. The following are the eligibility criteria:
• The employee must have been a member of the EPS 95 scheme before September 1, 2014.
• The employee must have not filed a joint option form to contribute 8.33% of their salary to the EPS even if their salary is above Rs. 15,000.
• The employee must have completed at least 10 years of service in the EPF scheme.
The employee must also submit the following documents to the EPFO:
• A copy of the joint option form that was not filed earlier.
• A proof of salary for the last 60 months.
• A declaration from the employer that the employee was a member of the EPS 95 scheme before September 1, 2014.
The EPFO has then processed the application and decided whether the employee is eligible for a higher pension. If the employee is eligible, the EPFO will start paying the higher pension amount from the date of application.
The deadline to apply for a higher pension was March 3, 2023. Employees who miss the deadline will not be eligible for a higher pension.