Life Certificate / Digital Life Certificate

Life Certificate

All pensioners are required to submit a Life Certificate annually to prove that they are still alive, so as to ensure that they keep drawing their pension. The Life Certificate ordinarily is required to be produced by the pensioner every November annually, after identification in person by his/her bank. Very senior pensioners, in the age group of 80 years and above, have been permitted to submit Annual Life commencing 01st October instead of 1st November onwards, every year vide DoPPW OM No. 1/20/2018-P&PW(E), dated 18.07.2019. If the life certificate is not submitted in time the banks can stop the pension payment. This is a precaution that banks take to detect fraudulent withdrawals from pension accounts of pensioners who are no more. The format in which the life certificate is to be submitted should be preferably taken from the concerned bank. 

Digital Life Certificate (Jeevan Pramaan)

The Government has launched both a website as well as an app called Jeevan Pramaan, for the pensioner to obtain a Digital Life Certificate online, without the physical necessity to go to a bank. Jeevan Pramaan uses the Aadhaar platform for biometric authentication of the pensioner. A successful authentication generates the Digital Life Certificate which gets stored in the Life Certificate Repository. The Pension Disbursing Agencies can then access the certificate online. This can be done at home using either an STQC certified fingerprint scanner/iris reader (like Mantra MFS 100) connected to the PC; or an Android smartphone running Android version 7.0 or above, 4+ GB of RAM, 64GB storage (minimum 500 MB free space), an Aadhaar number registered with Pension Disbursing Authority (Bank/ Post Office/ others) and a camera with a resolution of 5 MP or more to validate his / her biometrics with the Aadhar records. The Android app may be downloaded here. As on date (Mar 2024), no app for iPhone is available. FAQs issued by NAVPEN on Jeevan Pramaan may be viewed here, the instructions for carrying out the DLC process on the PC may be viewed here and on the mobile may be viewed here.

Life Certificate for SPARSH

All pensioners who migrate to SPARSH are required to complete the Life Certificate process within two months of receipt of the SPARSH PPO. This is irrespective of whether the pensioner has already submitted the Life Certificate in Nov/Dec 2021, prior to the migration. There are a number of options to submit the Life Certificate (both manual and online), which may be seen in this updated Aide Memoire published by NAVPEN and a playlist of YouTube video tutorials on the same may be viewed through this link. While undertaking DLC online, the following need to be borne in mind while entering details:-

• The Sanctioning Authority must be entered as ‘Defence PCDA(P), Allahabad.’
• Both the Disbursing Agency as well as the Agency must be entered as ‘SPARSH: PCDA(P), Allahabad.’
• The number sent by PCDA(P) through SMS as Pension ID (12-Figure Number) has to be filled as SPARSH PPO.

Doorstep Service for submission of Digital Life Certificate through Postman

The Department of Posts has launched an initiative of the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare: “Doorstep Service for submission of Digital Life Certificate through Postman” in November 2020. In order to make this facility available across the country, DoPPW roped in the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to utilize its huge network of Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks in providing doorstep facilities to pensioners for the submission of life certificates digitally. IPPB is utilizing its national network of more than 1,36,000 access points in Post Offices and more than 1,89,000 Postmen &Gramin Dak Sevaks with smartphones and biometric devices to provide Doorstep Banking Services. The process of submitting the Digital Life Certificate through Postman may be seen by clicking this link.

Video Life Certificate (for SBI Pension Account Holders)

State Bank of India (SBI) has come up with a new video calling facility where certificates can be submitted via video conferencing. Here’s how you can use this service:-

• Visit www.pensionseva.sbi
• Select ‘Video LC’ to start the video life certificate submission process
• Enter SBI pension account number, Captcha.
• Enter the OTP received on your registered mobile number and click on Submit
• On the new page, click on the ‘Start Journey’ option and click on ‘I Am Ready’ option
• Keep your PAN with you at this time

You may have to wait for a few minutes for the SBI official to connect with you on the video call. Once you are connected, you will be able to interact with the SBI official. At the start of the interaction, you need to submit the 4-digit verification number displayed on the screen (below the video) to the SBi official who will, then. capture your photo with your PAN card and complete the process of life certificate submission process. After 48 hrs you will get an SMS from SBI, “Dear Customer, Life Certificate submitted by you through Video LC is successfully accepted. Thank You-SBI”

For more details on the procedure, click here, or view the short video below.

Life Time Arrears (LTA) of Pension

Life Time Arrears (LTA) is the Pension for the period it was not drawn during the lifetime of a pensioner. According to Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983, pensioners are required to nominate another person, during his/her lifetime to receive the arrears of pension, due to the pensioner on his/her death. This is paid to the nominee, and if there is no nominee, lifetime arrears can be claimed by the legal heirs and settled. However, time-barred claims will be settled by the sanction of the concerned Pension Sanctioning Authority.

Many veterans may not have made or kept a copy of the Life Time Arrears nomination made at the time of retirement. Many banks also do not have the nomination form. Additionally, circumstances may have changed for some pensioners’ households from retirement to the present day.

It is, therefore, essential that besides making a nomination in their bank account, all veterans – including family pensioners – should ensure that they resubmit their LTA form which can be downloaded here. Four copies of the form need to be completed and signed by the bank. Thereafter, one copy of the form is to be handed over to the bank and a receipt obtained from it on a second copy. The two other copies are to be forwarded to your record office, which for naval veterans is “The Logistics Officer-in-Charge, Naval Pension Office, c/o INS Tanaji, Sion – Trombay Road, Mankhurd, Mumbai 400088.”

In case the LTA form is not held, banks have been instructed as follows vide PCDA Circular 476:-

Family Pension may be granted after obtaining a certificate from the widow/ claimant in the form of Affidavit / Indemnity Bond, stating that “Her Husband / Deceased was a pensioner at the time of his /her death. He/She has neither been convicted/sentenced/remarried nor changed his/her nationality before death. If at a later stage he/she is found ineligible for grant of Family Pension, he/she will be liable to refund the entire amount with interest paid to his/her as Family Pension.” This certificate/affidavit should be witnessed by two Defence Pensioners.