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A fixed monthly pension is given every month to retired private sector employees through the ‘Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995′ (EPS-95) under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO). Lakhs of pensioners often ignore a basic rule regarding this biggest financial support in old age, due to which the pension coming into their bank account every month suddenly stops. As soon as the pension stops, the elderly pensioners get nervous and they think that maybe some major technical glitch has happened or the pension has been stopped forever. The reality is that in 90% of the cases, the main reason for withholding of pension is non-submission of ‘Digital Life Certificate’ (Jeevan Pramaan Patra / DLC) on time or discrepancy in bank-KYC. If your or any senior member of your family’s EPFO pension has been stopped, then instead of getting worried, it can be restarted immediately by adopting some very easy digital and offline methods.
EPFO’s 12-month rolling rule: Why does pension stop?
It is mandatory for central and state government civil pensioners to submit life certificate in the month of November every year, but for EPFO’s EPS-95 pensioners, the rules are slightly different and flexible. EPFO has implemented the rule of ‘Rolling 12-Month Validity’.
This simply means that the month and date on which you submitted your Digital Life Certificate remains valid for the next 12 months (365 days). For example, if a pensioner had submitted his life certificate on May 15 last year, his certificate will remain valid till May 14 next. If the new certificate is not submitted by May 15, the automated system of EPFO automatically stops the release of pension from the first week of June. As soon as the pensioner submits the new life certificate, the system resumes the paused pension in the next billing cycle.
4 biggest reasons for stoppage of pension: Apart from life certificate, there are many complications too
If the pension is not coming into the account even after the life certificate is valid, then there could be 4 administrative or banking reasons given below:
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Expiry of Digital Life Certificate (DLC): The biggest reason is not filling the new life certificate on completion of the stipulated 12 months period.
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Bank account becoming dormant: If there has been no other financial transaction in the pension account for a long time or the bank has placed a ‘debit/credit hold’ on the account due to non-updation of KYC, the pension amount sent by EPFO bounces from the bank server.
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IFSC code changed after merger of banks: Many nationalized banks have merged in the last few years. If the pensioner has not updated the new IFSC Code and revised account number in his PPO record, then the automated NACH payment fails.
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Mismatch of name or date of birth in Aadhar card and EPFO records: Biometric or face verification gets rejected if there is a slight difference in the spelling of the name, father’s name or date of birth in the Aadhaar card and EPFO database.
5 easiest and fastest ways to restart stalled pension
If your pension has been stopped, any one of the 5 options given below can be used to reactivate it:
1. Through face authentication (Aadhaar Face RD) from mobile sitting at home: Now there is no compulsion for any elderly pensioner to go to fingerprint scanner or bank. You can submit life certificate by scanning your face in just 2 minutes from any Android smartphone at home:
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from Google Play Store AadhaarFaceRD app and The living principle download app.
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Open the Jeevan Pramaan app and enter the Aadhaar number and mobile number of the pensioner or any family member for operator authentication.
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After this, enter the pensioner’s Aadhaar number, PPO number, type of pension (EPS-95) and bank account number in ‘Pensioner Authentication’.
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Scan the pensioner’s face (blink eyes) with the phone’s front camera.
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As soon as the face matches, ‘Pramaan ID’ will be generated on the screen and the digital life certificate will be updated directly on the EPFO server.
2. Call the postman at home (India Post Payments Bank Doorstep Service): India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) offers ‘Doorstep Digital Life Certificate’ service for pensioners.
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You can place a request to call the postman to your home through the Postal Department’s ‘Post Info’ app or by contacting the nearest post office.
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The postman comes home with a micro-ATM and biometric device.
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By scanning the fingerprint from the pensioner’s Aadhaar and fingerprints, the DLC is submitted immediately. There is only a token government fee of ₹50 for this.
3. By visiting the nearest CSC or Jan Seva Kendra: Pensioners living in villages or towns can visit their nearest Common Service Center (CSC), e-Mitra or Customer Service Center and get their life certificate uploaded online in 5 minutes through biometric iris or fingerprint device.
4. By visiting the concerned bank branch: You can contact the ‘Pension Seva Desk’ by visiting the nearest branch of the bank account in which your pension is received. There, after physical verification of the pensioner or through biometric authentication, the bank officials enter the life certificate in the system.
5. Contact in EPFO Regional Office: If online biometric or face recognition is not successful due to any technical error, pensioners can visit their nearest EPFO field office. There the ‘Physical Life Certificate’ form can be filled and submitted along with PPO book, Aadhar card, PAN card, bank passbook and two passport size photographs.
Does the pending old pension money get lost?
The biggest fear in the minds of pensioners is that for the months the pension was pending, will that money be cut off forever. As per EPFO rules, not a single rupee of pension is lost.
As soon as your new digital life certificate is approved in the EPFO system, the entire arrears of all the previous pending months along with the current month’s pension are credited to your bank account in lump sum in the next month’s pension cycle.
How to fix bank and KYC related issues?
If your pension is stopped due to a technical issue with the bank account instead of the life certificate, take these steps:
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First of all, get your Re-KYC done by visiting the home branch of your pension bank account and ensure that the account is in completely ‘active’ status.
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If the IFSC code of the bank has changed, take a canceled check from the bank or a copy of the passbook attested by the bank manager.
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Get the new bank account and IFSC code linked with the PPO by logging into EPFO’s ‘Unified Member Portal’ or by visiting the nearest EPFO office and filling the ‘Non-CBS to CBS / Bank Account Modification’ form.
4 important precautions for elderly pensioners
Always keep a safe note of your PPO number in your diary as it is mandatory to enter the 12-digit PPO number while filling the life certificate every year. Through the ‘Pramaan ID’ received after submitting the life certificate, go to jeevanpramaan.gov.in portal and check the status of the certificate whether it is showing ‘Accepted by EPFO’ or not. Always keep your Aadhaar and current mobile number linked in the bank account so that SMS of pension credit can be received immediately. Every year, mark the date on which you filled the life certificate in your diary or mobile calendar, so that you can submit the new certificate 15 days before the completion of 12 months and there is not even a day’s break in pension.