The Annual Pension Life Certificate can be submitted from October. You can submit it online, in person or through the Indian Embassy if you’re of NRI status.
Pensioners across India have to gear up for the submission of their Annual Life Certificate come October. For those submitting it online, it is known as the Digital Life Certificate. This has to be done by November in order to continue the pension or family pension, according to the details provided by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare. The pensioners are allowed to submit the document in a few different ways. One way is of course online. As per the Office Memorandum that was issued by the government, a pensioner or family pensioner who is not residing in India can ask his duly authorized agent to produce a life certificate signed by a Magistrate, a Notary, a banker or Diplomatic Representative of India. In this case, they need not attend the submission in person.
The certificate can also be submitted online through the Aadhaar-based biometric authentication system. One simply needs to go to the URL (https://jeevanpramaan.gov.in/) and start the process of submission.
It should be noted that the Embassy of India, High Commission or Indian Consulate can also assist citizens in the submission of their respective life certificates. This is specifically for NRI pensioners and family pensioners who are unable to come to India for personal identification. This can be done with the use of a photograph pasted in the PPO or on the basis of a photograph of the pensioner on the Passport or any other equivalent identification document.
In the event that you are unable to even visit the local embassy or consulate in person, you need to produce a doctor’s certificate highlighting the reason for your inability to approach the embassy in person. In this case Embassy of India, High Commission or Indian Consulate can also help you submit the document.
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Keep in mind that starting October 1, 2021, there will also be a facility for pensioners to submit the Digital Life Certificate at their local Jeevan Pramaan Centres (JPCs) at Head Post Offices. The submission of the certificates by pensioners aged 80 years old and above will be allowed from the beginning of the next calendar month, all the way till November 30, 2021. In light of this new activity, the Department of Posts under the Ministry of Communications is making sure that all the Jeevan Pramaan Centre IDs are activated.
Post Offices across the country have been instructed to establish the Jeevan Pramaan Centres at the Head Post Office if not already done. They have also been told to create the Jeevan Pramaan IDs and ensure that they are active along with the Common Service Centres (CSCs). They were given a deadline of September 20, 2021, to do so.
Last year, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic and the threat it posed to the elderly, it was decided that it would be in their best interest to extend the existing timeline for the submission of the Life Certificate.
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Now, if you consider the online submission option, you need not visit any bank or post office. You can simply opt for the ‘Jeevan Pramaan’ an Aadhaar based Digital Life Certificate (DLC) which is an add on facility to the already existing way of submitting the Life Certificate in the physical form. Once you do this, the form is automatically processed and sent to the bank branch or post office of concern and acts as proof that the pensioner is actually alive.
Having said that, you need to keep an eye on the date and start the submission process as early as possible to avoid any unforeseen setbacks at the last minute.
