Summary of this article
Many pensioners face rejections while submitting digital life certificates online.
Aadhaar or PPO detail mismatches and weak biometrics are main causes.
Re-employed or remarried pensioners must submit paper life certificates instead.
Cross-checking Aadhaar data and clean biometric scans ensure smooth approval.
Many retirees trying to file their digital life certificate this year have run into unexpected roadblocks, according to a recent report by the Economic Times. What was meant to be a simple Aadhaar-based verification process is, for a growing number of pensioners, ending in a rejection message instead of a confirmation slip.
Where The Process Usually Goes Wrong
Most failed submissions trace back to small but crucial mismatches in personal details. Even a slight variation between what is recorded in Aadhaar and what is typed into the system, a misplaced alphabet in a name, a date of birth written differently, or an incorrect pension payment order (PPO) number, is enough to halt the approval.
The biometric step is another common trouble spot. With age, fingerprints may become faint, dry, or inconsistent, which reduces the chances of a clean match. Iris scans, too, can fail if the lighting is poor or the device struggles to capture the eye clearly. Pensioners who select the wrong pension-disbursing bank or treasury during the process often face rejection as well.
1 December 2025
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There’s also a rule many people overlook: those who have been re-employed after retirement or have remarried are not allowed to use the digital life certificate system at all. Their submissions get rejected automatically, and they must switch to the physical certificate route.
What Pensioners Can Do To Fix It
Once a certificate is turned down, the first step is to get in touch with the bank, post office, or institution that disburses the pension. They can confirm exactly which detail caused the problem. After that, the pensioner needs to generate a fresh certificate.
When resubmitting, the safest approach is to cross-check every detail with Aadhaar and original pension records before entering them. Matching spellings and dates precisely makes a major difference. When the certificate gets rejected because of biometric issues, most pensioners simply try again. In many cases, the scan fails because the device isn’t able to read the fingerprint clearly. Wiping the scanner, keeping the hand still, or choosing the iris option, if it’s available, usually helps the machine register the identity correctly.
Those who are not allowed to use the digital system in the first place, such as pensioners who have taken up work again or have remarried, should avoid repeated online attempts altogether. Their certificates have to be given in the traditional, paper-based format, and that route continues to be accepted without any difficulty.
Once the details match the records and the biometric capture goes through properly, the certificate is typically processed without drama. For most retirees, it’s just a matter of entering the information carefully and giving the machine a clear scan, enough to keep monthly pension deposits running without interruption.
