Zee Media Bureau
The government on Thursday increased the wage ceiling for coverage under the Employees' Provident Fund Scheme from Rs 6,500 to Rs 15,000 per month.
The decision to increase basic wage ceiling to Rs 15,000 per month is expected to bring in 50 lakh more workers under the EPFO's ambit.
Minimum monthly pension for EPFO subscribers has also been fixed at Rs 1,000.
Earlier in July this year, the government had approved minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 under Employees Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS-95) run by the retirement body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
The decision of the government would immediately benefit 28 lakh pensioners including 5 lakh widows getting less than Rs 1000 as pension every month. In all, there are 44 lakh pensioners under the EPS-95 scheme.