Telangana govt ordered to pay pensions withheld amid COVID-19 with 6% interest

Hyderabad: Telangana High Court on Monday ordered the state government to pay retired government employees a portion of the pension that was withheld during the COVID-19 epidemic along with six percent interest.

A bench of the Telangana High Court comprising chief justice Ujjal Bhuyan and justice N Tukaramji emphasised that the Telangana government should follow the Supreme Court’s instructions clear out the pension dues with added interest to it.

In addition to this, the court further disposed of a group of petitions and PILs, filed by pensioners demanding 12 percent interest on the unpaid pensions.

However, the government objected to the order while claiming that the choice to postpone payment of salaries and pensions was made because of the unstable financial situation in the state arising from the outbreak of COVID-19.

It further stated that the state had behaved responsibly and that there was no justification for subjecting it to the burden of paying interest.

In 2021, the Supreme Court changed the interest rate on pensions from twelve percent to six percent.