Having toiled for any number of years, wrapped up upon by the cruel financial happenstance also in their golden hours. A reality for many thousands of Indian retired personnel on the Employees’ Pension Scheme-95. 2025 offers encouraging unparalleled achievements, bringing about numerous reforms and dispensing pensions with great success.
Update on Minimum Pension Amount
The minimum monthly pension remains at Rs 1000.00 for EPS-95 as of December 2025. This benefit was established in 2014, but no subsequent call for increase from several pensioner groups has gained any success.
Work towards the Actualization of “More Pension”
- The pleasant development was the decision of the Supreme Court in 2020 which allowed contributions based on actual salary beyond the earlier cap.
- EPFO has done well thus far. Almost 99% of the 17.49 lakh applications filed for enhanced pension have been settled by the end of 2025.
- New Pension Payment Orders have been released for increased monthly pensions for eligible retirees.
Milestone of Arrears Disbursement
EPFO has been preparing for disbursing accumulated arrears for approved higher pension schemes over the years in a structured manner.
Payments began in July 2025 via the new Centralised Pension Payment System (CPPS). Consistent monthly disbursements of arrears took place in some months, totaling over Rs. 4,000 crore.
Overview of Pension Distribution
To understand how it represents natural statistics, a table with the number of pensioners (assessment based on monthly pension slabs) was given as of March 2025:monthly pension slabs as of March 2025:
| Monthly Pension Amount | Number of Pensioners |
|---|---|
| Less than Rs. 1,500 | 49,15,416 |
| Less than Rs. 4,000 | Significant majority |
| Less than Rs. 6,000 | Over 80 lakh total pensioners |
Modern Centralized Payment System
By January 2025, CPPS was meant to process pension payments at some branch in any bank across India.
This Aadhaar-facilitated payment would further ease transactions, particularly when pensioners move from one place to another after retirement.
Fair Apprehensions
Pensioners will persist in the relentless struggle for a pension of not less than Rs 7,500 plus Dearness Allowance.
While official assurances have been given for a revamp, nothing concrete is in place for the year 2025 on account of financial constraints.
The government assures that the whole plan for all possible enhancements will follow after addressing the downside of any financial implications.
