Old Age Pension Delay In Delhi Due To Procedural Constraints, Only 30% Slots Filled Since September

Only around 14,000 of the 50,000 vacancies announced under Delhi's old-age pension scheme last September have been filled so far, markedly slower than 2024, when about 80,000 beneficiaries were enrolled over a year, a source said.

The pace of enrolment since September has been impacted by procedural and technical constraints despite the availability of vacancies, unlike the previous year when the process progressed more smoothly, it said.

Around 14,000 applications were received under the scheme since last December, with nearly 200 registrations from each of the 70 Assembly constituencies, the source said, citing data compiled by the social welfare department following the September 17 announcement made under the ‘Seva Pakhwara’ initiative.

The source also said that delayed pension payments to a section of beneficiaries will be released this week after special approval from the finance department.

Some senior citizens had been facing delays in receiving financial assistance over the past few months due to technical and administrative reasons, the source said, adding that all pending dues will be cleared and credited directly to the beneficiaries' bank accounts.

There are more than 4.35 lakh beneficiaries under the scheme in Delhi, and only a section was affected by the delays, while others continued to receive payments on time, the source said.

It also said the monthly pension amount has been revised, with beneficiaries aged 60 years and above now receiving Rs 2,500 per month, up from Rs 2,000, while those aged 70 years and above will get Rs 3,000, up from Rs 2,500.

It added that the beneficiaries belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are entitled to an additional Rs 500 per month under the scheme.

The source also said the last round of enrolment was carried out in November 2024, and a large backlog of applications had slowed down the process.

"It took nearly seven months to clear the backlog. The pending enrolments were finally resolved in June 2025," the source said.