There is an option under Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System ) Rules, 2021 to avail benefits under Old Pension Scheme (OPS) on the death of the Government servant covered under NPS during service. This option is also available in case of his/her discharge from service on account of invalidation or disablement.
The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) today (October 26) said in an Office Memorandum (OM) that Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021 have been notified to govern service-related matters of Central Government civil employees covered under National Pension System.
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“Rule 10 of these rules deals with option to be exercised by every Central Government employee covered under National Pension System for availing benefits under National Pension System or old pension scheme in the event of death of Government servant during service or his discharge on the ground of invalidation or disablement,” DoPPW said.
Exercise option in Form 1 at the time of joining
As per Rule 10 of the Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021, every Government servant covered under the NPS shall, at the time of joining Government service, exercise an option in Form 1 for availing benefits under the NPS or under the Central Civil Service (Pension) Rules or the Central Civil Service (Extraordinary Pension) Rules in the event of his death or boarding out on account of disablement or retirement on invalidation.
The DoPPW said that Government servants, who are already in service and are covered by the NPS shall also exercise such an option.
The option can be exercised before the Head of Office who will accept it after verifying all the facts and place in the service book.
“A copy of the option shall be forwarded by the Head of Office to the Central Recordkeeping Agency through the Drawing and Disbursing Officer and the Pay and Accounts Officer for their record. The Pay and Accounts Officer shall also make suitable entry in the online system indicating the details regarding the option exercised by the Government servant,” DoPPW said.
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Submit details of family in Form 2
The DoPPW further said that along with Form 1, every Government servant shall also submit details of family in Form 2 to the Head of Office. On receipt of Form 2, the Head of Office shall acknowledge receipt of the Form 2 and all further communications received from the Government servant in this behalf, countersign it indicating the date of receipt and get it pasted on the service book of the Government servant concerned.
How many times this option can be revised?
The DoPPW said that this option can be revised any number of times by the subscriber before hsi retirement by making a fresh option intimating his revised option to the Head of Office.
The subscriber, who is discharged on invalidation or disability, will get an opportunity to submit a fresh option at the time of such discharge.
“Where such Subscriber does not exercise a fresh option or is not in a position to exercise fresh option at the time of discharge, the option already exercised by the Subscriber shall become operative,” the DoPPW said.
If the subscriber dies during service, the last option exercised by his/her before death would be treated as final and the family will have not right to revise the option.
What happens if a subscriber dies early?
In case a subscriber dies without exercising the option before completing 15 years of service or within three years of the notification of CCS (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules 2021, then his family would be granted family pension as per provisions of the Central Civil Services Pension) Rules or the CCS (Extraordinary pension) Rules as the case may be, as a default option.
In case a subscriber is discharged on invalidation or disability before completion of service of 15 years or within three years of the notification of CCS (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules 2021, and is not in a position to exercise this option at the time of discharge, then his family would be granted invalid pension as per provisions of the Central Civil Services Pension) Rules or the CCS (Extraordinary pension) Rules as the case may be, as a default option.
No option in all other cases
In all other cases, where no option is exercised by the Subscriber, the claim on discharge from service or that of the family on the death of the subscriber would be regulated by PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under National Pension System) Regulations 2015 as a default option, DoPPW said.
