7th pay commission -New family pension rules explained

The Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare informed about the decision from its official twitter handle and said, “Department of Pension & PW has issued instructions for Expeditious settlement of family

pension cases by banks.”

The tweet also carried the circular issued by the department directing banks for expeditious settlement of family pension.

The DoPPW letter read, “…… instances have been brought to the notice of this Department where, on death of a pensioner, the spouse/family members of the deceased pensioner are asked by the Pension Disbursing Banks to submit details and documents, which are otherwise not required for commencement of family pension.

This amounts to harassment of the spouse and family members and often leads to avoidable delay in commencement of family pension by the Banks.”

The DoPPW letter went on to add that the spouse/family member, whose name is included in the PPO issued to the deceased pensioner, is required to submit only the following details/ documents for commencement of family pension to him/her:

1] In cases where the deceased pensioner and spouse were holding a joint account:

a) A simple letter/application for commencement of family pension;

b) Death certificate in respect of the deceased pensioner;

c) Copy of PPO issued to the pensioner, if available; and

d) Proof of age/date of birth of the applicant.

2] In cases where the spouse did not have the joint account with the deceased pensioner:

a) Application in Form 14 bearing the signatures of two witnesses;

b) Death certificate in respect of the deceased pensioner;

c) Copy of PPO issued to the pensioner, if available; and

d) Proof of age/date of birth of the applicant.

Now, Form 14 is not required to be attested by a Gazetted officer, etc. The paying bank will identify the spouse/family member based on the information given in the PPO and its own “Know Your Customer” procedures.

3] In cases where, on death of the pensioner and spouse, family pension has to pass over to another family member;

a) If the other family member has been co-authorized for family pension in the PPO, the same procedure as in sub-para II above shall be followed.

b) If the name of the other family member is not included in the PPO, he/she may be advised to approach the office which the Government servant/pensioner last served, for issue of a fresh PPO.

Issuing guidelines to the pension disbursing banks the DoPPW circular said, “You are requested to issue suitable instructions to the CPPC(s) and the pension paying branches of your Bank to obtain only the minimum essential details/documents, as mentioned above, from the claimants of family pension, and to ensure that they are not subjected to any harassment by seeking unnecessary details and documents.

The details of family members, other than the Applicant, are not relevant for commencement of family pension by the bank and the same should not, therefore, be sought from the Applicant under any circumstances.”

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