Summary of this article
The government has ordered direct credit of Fixed Medical Allowance to eligible NPS pensioners and family pensioners through their bank accounts, removing the need to submit medical bills.
Under the updated framework, CPAO will issue Special Seal Authority to banks, and CPPCs will credit FMA quarterly at the notified rates.
Pensioners and family pensioners will have to submit their life certificate each November for continued payment.
The government has issued instructions to disburse the fixed medical allowance (FMA) directly into the bank accounts of pensioners and family pensioners covered under the National Pension System (NPS). The new instructions, issued through an office memorandum (OM) dated April 16, 2026, outlines the process of crediting FMA to eligible NPS retirees’ accounts.
The Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO), which handles pension payments for central government civil pensioners, laid the updated framework in the OM, according to which FMA will be transferred to the eligible beneficiaries automatically without them having to submit a medical bill.
How Eligible NPS Pensioners And Family Pensioners Will Get FMA
The CPAO will prepare a Special Seal Authority (SSA) and send it to the concerned Central Pension Processing Centre (CPPC) of the authorised bank, along with the necessary forms for payment of FMA.
The CPPC will credit the FMA to the beneficiaries every quarter, at the specified rate notified by the Department of Pension & Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) from time to time. Under this process, no medical bill will be required from beneficiaries for receiving the payment.
Another important part of the process is the submission of the life certificate. A pensioner will be required to submit the life certificate, either digital or physical, to the concerned bank every year in November, to continue receiving the FMA.
In case a beneficiary wants to change the option from FMA to the Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) OPD, existing rules will apply for such a transaction.
When Will FMA Be Credited Into The Bank Accounts
The payment for September to November will be done in the first week of December, and from December onwards it will be subject to the life certificate submission in the preceding November.
In case of the death of the beneficiary, the family pensioner will become eligible for the FMA if the name of such family member is mentioned in the FMA payment authority. To start receiving the FMA, the spouse or the family member will need to submit the death certificate to the bank. However, if such a family member or spouse’s name is not mentioned in the FMA payment authority, the eligible family member will be required to apply to the Head of the Office for issuance of a fresh FMA authority.
According to the existing system, the government will make payments to the authorised banks, and they will further make the payment to the pensioner or family pensioner, while CPPC will handle pension calculation, documentation, and reporting-related requirements.
When Does FMA Become Applicable For Pensioners Under NPS
The government offers CGHS facilities to the central government employees and pensioners, but there are several areas that are not covered under CGHS or any other corresponding health scheme of the ministry or the government department. In such cases, and where a beneficiary is not availing of the OPD facility under CGHS, the government offers FMA to such central government pensioners and family pensioners along with their monthly pension.
Regarding FMA payments, the DoPPW also issued two OMs dated December 6, 2023, and February 7, 2025. Notably, according to these OMs, FMA applies to the retired NPS employees who are granted a pension under the old pension scheme (OPS) due to disability and to the family members in case of the employee’s death during service, and subject to fulfilling other conditions as well.
