New Delhi: A major question remains regarding the amount of pension that employees in the private sector who contribute to the Provident Fund (PF) will receive upon retirement. Currently, the minimum pension is set at ₹1,000, and there has been a long-standing demand to increase this amount. All PF-covered employees are keeping a close watch on the 240th meeting of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), scheduled for November 19, 2026.
The minimum pension under the Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) could potentially be raised to ₹3,000, an increase of ₹2,000. However, the government has not yet officially approved this hike. You can read the article below for further details regarding this meeting.
Where will the meeting be held?
The upcoming meeting of the EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees was initially planned to be held in Gir, Gujarat; a letter to this effect was sent to the board members on September 30. Subsequently, a new letter issued on November 4 announced a change in the meeting venue.
Following this change, the meeting will now take place on November 19 at 10:15 AM at the EPFO headquarters in East Kidwai Nagar, New Delhi. A letter issued by Regional Provident Fund Commissioner-II, Dr Subrata Bhowmik, stated that the meeting agenda would be shared with the members shortly.
What could the minimum pension amount be?
The primary concern for EPS pensioners is whether the government intends to increase the minimum monthly pension. According to sources, discussions have taken place between the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Ministry of Finance regarding the pension amount. It is suggested that both ministries have reached a consensus on a minimum pension of ₹3,000. However, as there has been no official confirmation from either the Ministry of Labour and Employment or the Ministry of Finance, it would be premature to consider the ₹3,000 pension as officially approved.
Since when has the ₹1,000 pension been in effect?
For your information, the minimum amount under the Employees’ Pension Scheme has been ₹1,000 since 2014. This provision came into effect on September 1, 2014. In the 12 years since, there has been no change to this amount. Consequently, pensioner organisations and trade unions have been consistently demanding an increase.
Many pensioner organisations are calling for the minimum monthly pension to be raised to ₹7,500. They argue that it is becoming difficult to cover daily living expenses with the current pension amount. The government has previously acknowledged in Parliament that it has received several formal requests from trade unions and pensioner organisations to increase the pension.
