NEW DELHI: The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation on Monday extended by 15 days until July 11 the last date for employees to opt for higher pension.

For employers, the pension fund manager gave a three-month extension of deadline until September 30, by which time they must approve and upload corresponding wage details for eligible applicants.TOI was the first to report on June 24 that EPFO will extend the deadline for application after considering grievances from many employees and employers - both had sought simplification of the process of applying for higher pension.

This is the third extension of deadline for applying for higher pension.

Originally, the EPFO had announced May 3 as the last date, which was extended to June 26 to provide eligible pensioners and members four months for making their submissions.

"Last opportunity of 15 days is being given to remove any difficulty faced by the eligible pensioners/members.

Accordingly, the last date for submission of applications for validation of option / joint options by employees is extended to July 11," a ministry statement said.Welcoming the government's extension of time, Raghunathan KE, member of the Central Board of Trustees representing employers, said companies need to verify a lot of wage data, which makes the process cumbersome."EPFO once again proves to be considerate and compassionate to field issues.

They should also consider putting in place an alternative mechanism for those enterprises that have wound up their businesses now after the pandemic and economic situation.

Cases where employers were not found, for the retired pensioners living in different locations, should also get addressed," he told TOI.