Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that in a major relief to elderly persons, Government has relaxed the existing timeline for submission of Life Certificate.

All Central Government pensioners can submit Life Certificate from 1^st November, 2020 to 31^st December 2020. Earlier this used to be only for the month of November for maintaining continuity of Pension. However, the pensioners in the age group of 80 years and above, can submit Life Certificate from 1^st October, 2020 to 31^st December, 2020. During this extended period, the pension will be continued to be paid by the Pension Disbursing Authorities (PDAs) uninterrupted.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said that the decision was taken in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the vulnerability of elderly population to Corona Virus. In addition to above, as per RBI notification dated January 9, 2020, which permits Video based Customer Identification Process (V-CIP) as a consent based alternate method of establishing the customer’s identity, Pension Disbursing Banks have been also asked to explore the said methodology for obtaining a Life Certificate from the pensioner, to the extent permitted by RBI guidelines, in order to avoid rush at the branches.

Every Central Government pensioner has to submit life certificate in the month of November for further continuation of their pension. Pensioners can submit life certificate by visiting the bank branches, however the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has been promoting the Digital Life Certificate which can be given from the comfort of one’s home also.

In 2019, as a measure to enable additional dedicated time to very senior pensioners, the Department issued orders enabling pensioners in the age group of 80 years & above to submit Life Certificate from 1^st October onward instead of 1^st November, every year so that they could avoid the general rush in the month of November.

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