India is expected to become an ageing society by 2047 as nearly 14 crore people will fall into the senior citizenship category (above 60 years). In order to make the pension system viable within the country and supply sufficient retirement advantages, the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) sees a case for substantially increasing the retirement age and aligning it with life expectancy, The Economic Times (ET) reported.
The EPFO in its document said, "Increasing the retirement age, going forward, could be considered in line with the experience of other countries and will be key to the viability of pension systems."
A senior government official told ET, “Raising the retirement age would mean deposit of higher quantum pensions for longer duration with EPFO and other pension funds in the country and will help offset inflation.”
The EPFO has almost 6 crore subscribers and it has a cumulative pension and provident fund corpus of more than Rs 12 lakh crore. According to the ET report, the EPFO will include the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in its plan. The PFRDA administers the National Pension Scheme of the central government.
According to the National Statistical Office (NSO)'s Elderly in India 2021 report, the nation's elderly population of 60 and above is expected to touch 19.4 crore in 2031 from 13.8 crore in 2021, a 41 per cent rise, lifted by a higher population and rise in life expectancy for both males and females
"Consequently, the number of people requiring old age income and health security will go up exponentially," the EPFO said.
While in India the retirement age varies from 58 years to 65, across the European Union, it is 65 years. Meanwhile, in Denmark, Italy, and Greece, the retirement age is 67 years and in the US, it is 66 years, as most of these nations have an ageing population.