As the COVID-19 pandemic had brought the world to a standstill in the last couple of months, things are slowly starting to get back to normal as new cases sink, recoveries spike and news of a vaccine is giving hope to one and all. But there are a few essential services that needed attention, submission of annual life certificate for the continuation of pension for instance. But central government pensioners needn't panic.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday announced that the last date for submission of annual life certificate of pensioners has been extended till February 28, 2021. "This decision has been taken considering all the sensitivities to avoid pandemic risk emanating from gathering of crowds at the pension disbursing banks," said Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel.
The minister also said that pensioners aged 80 or above were allowed to submit their life certificate in an exclusive window from October 1 to avoid the rush on the day of the opening date on November 1. The annual life certificate is mandatory for pensioners to continue receiving their pension.
Digital Life Certificate
To make it simpler for pensioners to submit their annual life certificate, the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) is working with Indian Post Payments Bank (IPPB) for digital life certificate. IPPB is helping collect the digital certificates from houses of pensioners, to which Singh said, "a great comfort to pensioners, especially those residing in rural areas."
Those who choose not to visit the branch can now submit their digital life certificate from home by attaching a UIDAI authenticated biometric device to their PC or mobile. Pensioners must ensure their Pension account is linked with Aadhaar number to facilitate the digital option.
How to submit life certificate online?
- Download Doorstep Banking App.
- Choose your bank.
- Place a request for doorstep service for submission of Life Certificate.
- Enter your pension account number and verify it.
- Agree to doorstep service charges.
- Submit the request and an SMS with agent's contact details will be sent to your phone.
- The bank agent will come to your address to complete the process.
PF services for elderly
Since elderly people are at higher risk of contracting COVID-19, extra precaution has been mandated. For that reason, the elderly population are among the first ones to receive COVID vaccination as soon as it is publicly available. The decision made by the centre prevents the unnecessary gathering of elderly people in pension disbursing banks.
Furthermore, the DoPPW is working on new face-recognition technology to submit digital life certificate, which can be done from an Android smartphone without having to attach any biometric device.
