new delhi months ahead of elections the employee provident fund organisation epfo has fast tracked a proposal to provide a minimum monthly pension of rs1000 to its subscribers and raised the monthly wage ceiling for mandatory provident fund contributions fromrs6500 to rs15000 this higher pension will benefit more nearly 9 crore subscribers of epfo the approval was fast tracked to beat the code of conduct that will come into force once the lok sabha elections are announced the proposals were cleared late on wednesday at a meeting of the central board of trustees of epfo chaired by labour minister oscar fernandes et had on monday reported that the government was considering these changes the board has decided to approve the proposed amendments in the schemes to ensure that rs1000 minimum monthly pension under eps95 and also increased the wage ceiling to rs15000 per month fernandes told reporters after the meeting the proposal will provide respite to most epf subscribers who get a measly monthly income on retirement the benefit would be available from 201415 and would cost the government an additionalrs1217 crore it will immediately benefit 28 lakh pensioners at present the pension benefits are linked to the contributions to the employee pension scheme 1995 run by the epfo and the last salary drawn in most cases the pension benefits that average only rs500 a month are very low the pensionable salary will be calculated on the basis of average salary of the last 60 months instead of 12 months as provided in the eps95 the trustees did not decide on a proposal to raise the retirement age for the pensions scheme to 60 years from current 50 years the proposal to raise the monthly salary limit will bring more workers under the only retirement scheme available for the formal sector workers under the current rules workers getting basic wages including basic pay and dearness allowance of up to rs6500 are covered under the employees provident fund organisation epfo the higher rs15000 limit is expected to bring another 50 lakh workers the epf scheme forcing them to save for retirement