Expected Agenda in CBT Meeting

CBT meeting on October 13 to take stock of EPFO 3.0, ELI roll out
The scheme was cleared by the Union Cabinet in July and came into effect from August 1.

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The Central Board of Trustees of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation is set to meet on October 13 to discuss a range of issues including the retirement fund manager’s technology upgrade under EPFO 3.0, the recent employment linked incentive scheme as well as strengthening of its investment patterns.

While the issue of an increase in the minimum pension of Rs 1,000 is not on the agenda that has been circulated for now, sources indicated it could be brought up for discussion in the meeting.

The labour ministry has been looking into a possible revision in the current monthly pension of Rs 1,000 under the Employees’ Provident Scheme, 1995 and various options to revise it, which has been a demand from several pensioners and trade unions who have pointed out that the amount is not sufficient to meet any need at all. However, it is yet to be ascertained if it will take this up in the CBT meeting.

This will be the first meeting of the CBT, which is the EPFO’s apex decision making body, in over nine months. The CBT had last met in late February when it had approved the interest rate on PF deposits. The upcoming meeting was earlier planned for two days on October 11 and 12 in Bengaluru but has now been rescheduled.

According to sources, the top agenda for the CBT is an update on the EPFO’s work on its technology and customer interface as part of EPFO 3.0. The upgrade, which is still underway and is likely to be completed over the next few months, is expected to provide ease in conducting transactions such as withdrawals and transfers to subscribers.
IT majors including Infosys, Wipro and TCS, were shortlisted to manage the platform. The project was initially expected to be completed earlier this year but it has taken longer than expected due to technical testing.

Meanwhile, the labour ministry is also expected to provide an outline on the employment linked incentive scheme or the PM Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana, which seeks to generate over 3.5 crore jobs between August 2025 and July 2027, including 1.92 crore for first-time workers.
The scheme was cleared by the Union Cabinet in July and came into effect from August 1.

The CBT is also likely to take up the issue of strengthening the retirement fund manager’s investment policies although a change in the investment norms is unlikely for now.
According to sources, there have been internal deliberations around this to assess how to improve investments and redemptions.

The issue has gained traction given that the EPFO has been finding it difficult to give higher returns on PF deposits. ,*It seems there is No proposal of revise in minimum pension *
Source: social media.

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