UPS: EPFO pauses Unified Pension Scheme adoption for its employees; says matter still under consideration

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has temporarily put on hold its earlier order allowing employees to adopt the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), stating that the matter is still under consideration. “It is to inform that the matter regarding implementation of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for the employees of the Central Board is still under consideration,” EPFO said in an office order on Monday, as quoted by ET. Earlier this year, the EPFO’s Central Board of Trustees (CBT) had approved the adoption of UPS for employees during its 112th meeting in February. The March order had allowed all eligible employees three months from April 1, to exercise their option to be covered under UPS.“Accordingly, the circular dated 28th March 2025 may be treated as kept in abeyance until further orders,” it added. The order was issued to all additional central provident fund commissioners as well as regional provident fund commissioners.“The option once exercised shall be final and irrevocable,” the March order had stated. The UPS was designed for all EPFO employees in service as of April 1, who were covered under the National Pension System (NPS). Other eligible employees included new recruits joining EPFO on or after April 1, as well as employees who had superannuated or voluntarily retired before March 31, but were covered under NPS. Even the legally wedded spouse of a subscriber who had retired or passed away before exercising the option was also eligible to adopt UPS.