Pension Alert! Life Certificate Submission Date Extended Till Dec 31. Know About All Digital Options Available

Central Government Pension Update: Banks are asked to explore video-based customer identification process for obtaining a life certificate from the pensioner to avoid the rush at the branches.

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New Delhi: In the wake of rising Covid-19 cases across the country, the Centre has offered some relief to pensioners by extending the submission date of life certificate from November 1 to December 31. Union Minister Jitendra Singh has informed about the extension for central government pensioners. ALSO READ | Banking Fraud: SBI Issues Safety Guidelines On Debit, Credit Card Usage. Check Them Here Pensioners earlier needed to submit the certificate only in November for maintaining continuity of pension. The decision comes as the Covid-19 cases have spiked across the country and was taken in view of the vulnerability of the elderly population to the disease. What is the change? In the extended period of the submission of the life certificate, pensioners will continue to receive pension. The Personnel Ministry had issued a statement, "However, the pensioners in the age group of 80 years and above can submit life certificate from October 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020. During this extended period, the pension will be continued to be paid by the pension disbursing authorities (PDAs) uninterrupted. Moreover in a bid to avoid the rush for senior citizens, the department had earlier issued orders allowing pensioners in the age group of 80 years and above to submit life certificate from October 1 onward instead of November 1. What digital options are available for pensioners? In fact, banks are asked to explore video-based customer identification process (V-CIP) for obtaining a life certificate from the pensioner to the extent permitted by the RBI's guidelines to avoid the rush at the branches. Although the central bank in January permitted V-CIP as an alternate method of establishing customer's identity. However, you can submit life certificate by visiting the bank branches, however, the Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare is pushing for digital life certificate which can be provided from the comfort of one's home. You also have the option to submit Digital Life Certificate or Jeevan Pramaan every year. What is Digital Life Certificate? Basically, digital Life Certificate or Jeevan Pramaan is a biometric-enabled digital service for pensioners. This service allows you to submit the certificate without being physically present at the pension disbursing agency or attain the Life Certificate issued by the authority. In 2014, the government had launched ‘Jeevan Pramaan’, an ‘Aadhaar-based Digital Life Certificate’ for pensioners.