Digital Life Certificate For Pension: Banks To Monitor Non-Submissions And Contact Customers

All pension disbursing banks have been directed to monitor non-submission of digital life certificates by pensioners and to make arrangements to ensure their submission, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.

To address the issue of difficulty in submission of digital life certificate (DLCs) through biometric mechanisms for elderly pensioners, the Government of India has launched the face authentication technique which requires only a smartphone for generation of DLCs, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply to a question.

"All pension disbursing banks have been directed to monitor non-submission of DLCs and to make arrangements to ensure DLC submission," he said.

Singh said the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare also monitors the banks to ensure the submission of DLCs. All pensioners are required to submit a life certificate for the continuation of pension payment.

"Services of India Post and Payments Bank, post offices and Gramin Dak Sevaks are also utilised to help senior citizens, especially above 80 years of age, to submit their DLCs. Pensioners above 80 years can submit their DLCs in October also," the minister said.

Mega camps are held at places having large concentrations of pensioners, he said, adding that during the DLC campaigns, provisions are made for doorstep delivery of services to the aged, those who are sick or incapacitated and pensioners with disability.

To address the practical difficulties faced by senior citizens, especially those above 80 years of age, including those in the remotest parts, nationwide DLC campaigns are being held from November 1 to 30 every year from 2022 onwards, in which DLC camps are held at multiple locations, Singh said.

In a separate reply, the minister said that as on March 6, 2026, the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare conducted 15 pension adalats for pensioners of all ministries and departments of the Centre, wherein, 27,812 long-pending grievances on CPENGRAMS portal have been taken up and 19,948 cases resolved on the spot.

Centralised Pension Grievances Redress And Monitoring System (CPENGRAMS) is an online portal for the registration, tracking and redressal of pensioners’ grievances.

The rest of the grievances have also been redressed or taken to finality through follow-up meetings and monitoring, Singh said, adding that these pension adalats are held in hybrid mode.