PETALING JAYA: Over 900,000 pensioners will receive a pension increase of between seven and 13 per cent, starting today.
The increase follows the implementation of the first phase of the new salary system under the Public Service Remuneration Scheme (SSPA).
Checks on the MyPesara app revealed that the pension adjustment also includes the accumulated two per cent annual increase given since 2013, which was declared invalid by the Federal Court last year.
The government stopped paying the increase this year following the Federal Court's decision but continued to pay it as a special incentive for civil servants.
Some retirees, however, are crying foul.
Pensioners who retired before 2013 claim that their pensions are still based on the last reviewed basic salary, which was 11 years ago, rather than the new salary under the SSPA.
A retired teacher said her monthly pension increased by RM250, an 8 per cent rise based on the salary set for the DG41 grade in 2013.
Under the SSPA, she explained, the basic salary for her final grade is now much higher than when she retired in 2010.
"Under the SSPA, my current grade is DG12, with a basic salary at least RM2,000 higher than when I retired. My pension should be at least RM1,000 higher each month.
"The Federal Court ruled that all pension calculations must follow the current salary scale for a given grade. All of us who retired before 2013 are facing the same issue," she told FMT.
In June 2023, the Federal Court ruled that amendments to Sections 3 and 7 of the Pension Adjustment Act (Amendment) 2013 were not beneficial to public service pensioners, declaring them invalid.
The five-member panel unanimously decided that the provision allowing a flat two per cent annual increase conflicted with Article 147 of the Federal Constitution (pension rights protection), in contrast to the Pension Adjustment Act 1980.
The panel, chaired by Court of Appeal President Tan Sri Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim, dismissed the government's and the Director-General of Public Service's appeals against the Court of Appeal's ruling that the amendments were invalid.
Meanwhile, another pensioner said his pension increase was based on his last salary before retirement two years ago, rather than the new adjustments under the SSPA.
"Many in our group are in the same situation. Pensions should be aligned with the new salary structure under the SSPA," he said.