ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee directed the Employees Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) on Thursday to expedite its pension-disbursement process and warned of action in case of any complaints from pensioners.

“EOBI employees or pensioners can approach the committee in case of any issue; the committee will take action immediately on such cases,” Chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, Syed Rafiullah.

As per the instructions of the Committee Chairman, EOBI committed to releasing pensions to pensioners and assured the Committee that the pension, which increased from rupees 10,000 to rupees 11,500 with effect from January 1, 2025, will be disbursed along with all arrears on September 1, 2025.

The Acting Chairman of the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) briefed the Committee on the institution’s overall performance, structure, and operations. The briefing covered Pakistan’s social security framework, EOBI’s organisational setup, contribution mechanisms, and the range of benefits provided under the EOB Act, 1976.

The Committee was informed about ongoing and completed projects, pension disbursements, fund collection and utilisation, and key institutional challenges. Members raised critical questions and provided recommendations and directions for improving service delivery and efficiency.

It is to mentioning here that there have been excessive complaints against EOBI for delaying pension cases of all pensioners after the latter’s retirement from different public, private organisations. It takes years to process pension cases, and the wretched retired employees have to go from pillar to post to get their pensions released.

Those who attended the meeting included MNAs Mian Khan Bugti, Zulfiqar Ali Behan, Ms Saeeda Jamshid, Ms Erum Hamid, Ms Tamkeen Akhter Niazi, Fateh Ullah Khan, Dr Mehreen Razzaq Bhutto, Mr Farhan Chisti, Ms Sofia Saeed Shah, and Mohammad Ilyas Choudhary and senior officers from the EOBI, and Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development were also present in the meeting.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2025