In a major relief to elderly persons, the Centre has relaxed the existing timeline for submission of Life Certificate, informed Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Friday.
All Central government pensioners can now submit Life Certificate from 1st November 2020 to 31st December 2020. Earlier, this used to be only for the month of November for maintaining continuity of Pension.
The pensioners in the age group of 80 years and above, can now submit Life Certificate from 1st October 2020 to 31st December 2020. During this extended period, the pension will be continued to be paid by the Pension Disbursing Authorities (PDAs) uninterrupted.
Singh said that the decision was taken in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the vulnerability of elderly population to Coronavirus.
"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," he said.
Every Central government pensioner has to submit a life certificate in the month of November for further continuation of their pension. Pensioners can submit a 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, a release read.
In 2019, as a measure to enable additional dedicated time to very senior pensioners, the Department had issued orders enabling pensioners in the age group of 80 years and above to submit Life Certificate from 1st October onward instead of 1st November, every year so that they could avoid the general rush in the month of November, it added.