Pension Procedures

The following guidelines outline the procedure for grant of permission for commercial employment after retirement.

Rule 10 of the CCS (Pension ) Rules.1972, requires that every retired Group ‘A’ Officer should take the permission of the Government before he accepts any commercial employment within one year of his retirement.

The pensioner desirous of accepting post-retirement commercial employment should seek permission by submitting his Form 25 to the concerned authority.

With a view to ensuring expeditious consideration of such requests from retired officers for taking up post-retirement commercial employment, Ministries/Departments may initiate examination of such requests at the level of SO/DO.

After examination by SO/DO, the case should be submitted direct to the joint Secretary, who, in turn, will submit the case direct to the Minister-in-charge of the Ministry/Department for his orders.

Where the application is received by Heads of Field office(s) for onward transmissions to a Ministry/Department, the consideration of the case should start at the level of the Supervisory Officer-in-charge of the Section dealing with such requests.

The Administrative Ministry/Department should maintain a check-list as in Annexure-I in regard to cases processed by it in order to ensure that all aspects relating to the case have received proper attention. Ministries/Departments should also maintain a register in the form given in Annexure-II to monitor the progress of cases relating to post-retirement commercial employment.

Before the case is submitted to the Minister-in-charge for orders, it may be ensured by the Administrative Ministry /Department that the integrity of the retired officer when he was in service is certified.

It is imperative that final decisions on requests of retired officers to take up commercial employment are taken at the appropriate level.

Related Circulars:

  1. G.I.,M.H.A. (D.P. & A.R.), O.M.No.27012/1/82-Estt.(A), dated the 13th October, 1983.
  2. G.I, Deptt. of Personnel & Training., O.M. No.27012/51/93-Estt. (A), dated the 9th May,1994.

In order to avoid delay in the payment of Compassionate Allowance, the following procedure should be adopted in cases relating to officers removed from service:-
On receipt of the orders of the Competent Authority removing an officer from service for misconduct, insolvency or inefficiency, the Head of the Office, if he proposes to recommend the grant of a Compassionate Allowance, should fill in the application for pension and send it to the Accounts Officer Concerned for report on the title to pension. The Head of the Office should not wait for an application from the officer.

If the Competent authority while issuing orders of removal states that a certain proportion of the compensation pension is to be granted as compassionate allowance, no further sanction to pension is necessary, and all that is required is that, the Accounts Officer should certify to the admissibility of the pension on a pension application completed and signed by the Head of the Office as provided in (1) above.

Related Circular

G.I., F.D., No. f. 3-X-R. II/34,dated the 3rd May, 1934

Where the names of eligible children have not been mentioned in PPO for various reasons like the pension was sanctioned prior to 1-1-1990 or the child is a post–retiral one or post-retiral manifestation of disability of the child, the pensioner, if he so desires, can furnish a list of eligible children to the Pension Sanctioning Authority, inter alia, indicating whether any child is handicapped or not.
The receipt of this list may be acknowledged by the pension sanctioning authority, mentioning the details of the eligible children taken on record.

This acknowledgement may be preserved by the members of the family of the pensioner for production at the time of submission of claim for family pension in their own turn to the Pension Sanctioning Authority.

In case of guardian, the responsibility of producing this acknowledgement will, however, not be a pre-condition to the processing of claims for family pension.

Related Circular:

G.I., Dept. of P. & P.W., O.M. No. 1 (21)-P. & P.W./91-E, dated the 20th January, 1993

(i) As and when a pensioner marries or re-marries after retirement, he shall intimate the event to the Head of Office who processed his pension papers at the time of his retirement. He shall also furnish along with his application an attested copy of the marriage in respect of his post-retirement marriage.

(ii) The Head of Office on receipt of the application mentioned above and after due verification where necessary, forward the papers to the concerned Pay & Accounts Officer for issue of corrigendum PPO. While forwarding the papers to the Pay & Account Officer, the provisions of Clause (b) of sub-rule (7) of Rule 54 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972, shall be kept in mind. When the pensioner does not have any child or children from his previous marriage, if any, the post-retiral spouse shall be eligible for full family pension. Where the pensioner has any eligible child or children from another wife who is not alive, the family pension to the post-retiral spouse and the child/children from the previous marriage will be authorized in terms of clause (b) of sub-rule (7) of Rule 54 ibid.

(iii) The corrigendum PPO shall be forwarded by the Pay & Accounts Officer to the concerned Pension Disbursing Authority through the Central Pension Accounting Office. A copy of the corrigendum PPO shall also be endorsed to the pensioner.

(iv) As far as children, including those born after retirement, are concerned, a fresh PPO will be issued as and when the turn of each child for receipt of family pension is reached as at present.

In order to ensure that the amounts of over payments written off on the ground of Government servant being no longer in service are set off against any sums which are subsequently found due, it has been decided that the following procedure be adopted in regard to refund of excess recovery, if any, of licence fee to retired Government servants:
(i) Non-Gazetted Government servants:

Refund of amount is normally made only through the office under whom the Government servant concerned served last, and the Head of the Office concerned should ensure that overpayments, if any, already written off are set off against such refunds.

(ii) Gazetted Government servants:

In the case of refund of excess licence fee recovered form a retired Gazetted Government servant, the Directorate of Estates would obtain a certificate from the Head of the Department /Office under whom he served last to the effect that no claim due from him had been written off on account of his being no more in Government service which could be adjusted against the amount applied for. The Ministry will also maintain appropriate indexed record to this effect.

Related Circular

  1. G.I., M.F., O.M. No. 18 (9)-E. II (A)/59, dated the 14th May, 1960.

1.  The medical authority shall :

  • obtain from the applicant a statement in Part-I of Form4, duly signed by the applicant in its presence
  • subject the applicant to medical examination and enter the result thereof in Part-II of Form 4
  • attest the unattested copy of the photograph of the applicant
  • complete the certificate contained in Part-II of Form 4.

Provided that where :-

(i) an applicant has been granted invalid pension, or

(ii) an applicant has previously commuted a part of his pension, or

(iii) an applicant has been refused commutation on medical grounds, or

(iv) an applicant had declined to accept the commutation on the basis of addition of years to his actual age, the medical authority shall, before completing the certificate contained in Part-III of Form 4, take into consideration the statement of the medical case of the applicant.

2.    After complying with the requirements of sub-rule (1), the medical authority shall without delay forward to the Accounts Officer who has already completed Part-IV of Form 2, the following documents, namely:— 

(a)   Form 2 in original,

(b)   Attested copy of the applicant’s photograph.

(c)   Form 4 in original, and

(d)   A certified copy of Form 4 to the Head of Office who has countersigned Part-IV of Form 2.

3. The medical authority shall also send to the applicant a certified copy of Part-II of Form 4.

1.  When a claim for any disability pension or family pension arises, the Head of the Office or the Department in which the injured or the deceased Government servant was employed will forward the claim through the usual channel to the Government of India with the following documents :-

(i) A full statement of circumstances in which the injury was received, the disease was contracted or the death occurred. 

(ii) The application for disability pension in Form ‘A’ or as the case may be, the application for family pension in Form ‘B’ of the Forms set forth in SCHEDULE IV.

(iii) In the case of an injury of Government servant or one who has contracted a disease a medical report in Form ‘C’ of the Forms set forth in SCHEDULE IV. In the case of a deceased Government servant a medical report as to the death or reliable evidence as to the actual occurrence of death, if the Government servant lost his life in such circumstances that a medical report cannot be secured.

(iv) A report of the Accounts Officer concerned as to whether an award is admissible under the rules and, if so, of what amount.

Where the Government are satisfied on the evidence placed before them by a Government servant in respect of whom a medical report for the purpose of grant of disability or other extraordinary pension has been received by them, of the possibility of an error of judgement in the decision of the Medical Board which examined him, the Government may direct a second Medical Board consisting of members other than those who constituted the first Medical Board to examine the officer and submit a report to the Government in the matter ; pension shall be granted to the officer in accordance with the decision of the second Medical Board.

Note: In respect of matters of procedure, all awards under CCS (Extraordinary Pension) Rules are subject to any procedure rules relating to ordinary pension for the time being in force, to the extent that such procedure/rules are applicable and are not inconsistent with these rules.

If both the halves of a PPO are reported to have been lost in transit due to floods etc. before commencement of payment of pension, the paying Branch to which the matter is reported, will address the concerned Pay & Accounts Office through the usual channel i.e. Link Branch, CPAO etc. requesting for issue of a duplicate PPO in favour of the concerned pensioner in terms of the provisions of relevant rule(s) in force.  Before initiating action in this behalf the paying Branch will however,  verify from the register of payment of pensions that no payment has already been made to the pensioner and confirm this fact to the PAO while writing for a duplicate PPO.  The paying Branch will also take the following further action before commencing payment in such cases on receipt of duplicate PPOs.

(a)   The fact that no payment is to be made against the Original PPO will be prominently mentioned in the ‘Remarks’ column of the Register of Payments of Pension while noting therein the particulars of the duplicate PPO.

(b)   A declaration from the pensioner to the effect the he has not already received any payment against the Original PPO; and also an undertaking from him to the effect the he will surrender to the paying branch the Original PPO, if  traced out later, and not claim any payment on its strength will be obtained from the pensioner and kept on their record.

(c)   It will ensure that no payment has been made to the pensioner on the basis of original  PPO during the period following the report made to the PAO as regards its reported  loss.

In cases in which pensioner’s potion of the PPO is lost, worn or torn and it is sought to be renewed, the paying Branch will forward the request of the pensioner, along with both halves/disburser’s half of the PPO to the CPAO through the Link Branch for renewal in terms of the provisions of rules 331-332 of CTRs in force.  In order that  payment of pension is not unnecessarily delayed in such cases in the absence of disburser’s portion of the PPO, care may be taken to send the connected documents to the CPAO immediately after payment for a month is made, so as to leave sufficient time with the CPAO to do the needful and return the documents by the time payment for the next month becomes due.  The CPAO will also be reminded by the paying Branch in cases where the return of the documents is unduly delayed.

In case where disburser’s portion of PPO is lost by the Paying Branch of the bank, the Paying Branch will report the matter to the concerned Pay & Accounts Office through the usual channel, i.e. Link Branch, CPAO requesting for issue of duplicate disburser’s portion  of PPO.  For this purpose, the Paying Branch will forward the photocopy of the pensioner’s portion of PPO duly attested by the Bank Manager and certificate indicating the month up to which the payment has been made to the pensioner, CPAO will send this information to the concerned PAO for issue of duplicate Disburser’s portion of PPO.

1.         The applications for switch-over to Authorised Banks (AB) by the existing pensioners will be made in the form as given in Annexure IX  (in duplicate) to the Pension Disbursing Authority.

2.         The pensioners should first draw pension which has already fallen due, before applying for transfer of their pension papers to the Authorised Banks.

3.         Transfer applications in duplicate shall be forwarded immediately by the Pension Disbursing Authority alongwith the disburser’s copy of the PPO halves, duly authenticated and written upto date, to the CPAO for transmission to the Link Branches of the AB for arranging payment after keeping necessary note in their records. Action will also be taken by Pension Disbursing Authority to update the entries of payment made in the pensioner’s portion of the PPOs, if not already done, before the transfer applications are sent to the CPAO.

4.         If a PPO (disburser’s portion) has got torn or mutilated, it will be renewed by the CPAO with the help of PAO, if necessary, before sending it to the Link Branch.

The Authorised Bank(AB) may credit the pension amount of non-resident to a non-resident (ordinary) account opened/maintained as per provision of the Exchange Control.  The amount of pension of a pensioner who has become non-resident may be credited to the said account after ensuring the personal identification and other requirements as stipulated under the Scheme (Para 12).

In case of the existing accounts, the pensioner should intimate the fact that he has become non-resident Indian, to the pension paying branch in India and on receipt of the same the paying branch in India should convert the account of the pensioner to Non-resident Ordinary (NRO) Account.

The pensioner has to furnish the life certificate issued by an authorised official of the Embassy/High Commission of India or Consul of Indian Consulates or a Notary Public or an Officer of an Indian Authorised Bank attached to its branch in the country where the pensioner is residing, once in a year, in November.

The pensioner has to furnish other certificate viz. non-employment/re-employment certificate, Re-marriage/Marriage certificate as prescribed in the pension scheme (Annexures XVIII & XXVI.)

The paying  branches will credit  the amount of pension due every month to the Non-resident Ordinary Account of the pensioner.

Withdrawals from the Non-Resident Ordinary Accounts will be governed by the instructions contained in the Exchange Control Manual and the paying branch should allow the withdrawal accordingly.

Pension credited to the Pensioner’s Non-Resident (Ordinary) Account may be remitted by the bank to the Pensioners outside India, in case the Non-Resident Pensioner so desires, by debit to his NR (O) Accounts either by remittance or by credit to his NR (E) Accounts.

The paying branch should return PPOs of such Non-Resident Indian pensioners who are drawing pension from them and are unable to furnish the prescribed life certificate to the pension sanctioning authority for arranging future payments to them.

The change in the citizenship by any Non-Resident Indian pensioner will not affect his entitlement to the pension.

The following provisions will apply for opening the Bank Account and withdrawal of pension by old, sick, incapacitated and handicapped pensioners

1. Opening the Account :

In case of a pensioner who has lost both his hands and, therefore, cannot sign, his signature can be obtained by means of a mark.  This mark can be placed by the persons in any manner.  It could be toe impression.  It can be by means of mark which anybody can put on pensioner’s behalf, the mark being put by an instrument which has had a physical contact with the person who has to sign.

2. Withdrawal of money from the account:            

The following method will be adopted in case of sick, incapacitated handicapped pensioners.

(a)  Pensioner who is too ill to sign a cheque and can not be physically present in the bank to withdraw money from his account, but can put his thumb/toe impression on the cheque /withdrawal form. In this case, the thumb or tow impression should be identified by two independent witnesses known to the bank, one of whom should be responsible bank official.

(b)  Pensioner who is not only unable to be physically present in the bank, but is also not even able to put his thumb/toe impression on the cheque/withdrawal form due to certain physical defect/ incapacity. In this case a mark can be obtained on the cheque/withdrawal form in the same manner as described in sub- para (1) above. That mark should be identified by two independent witnesses one of whom should be a responsible bank official.

(c)  In both the cases mentioned above, the pensioner might also be asked to indicate to the Bank as to who would withdraw pension amount from the bank on the basis of cheque/ withdrawal form as obtained above and that person should be identified by two independent witnesses. The person who is actually drawing the money from the bank should be asked to furnish his signatures to the bank.

Procedure for determination and authorisation of the amounts of pension and gratuity are governed by Rule 56 to 76 of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972. Wherever delays are anticipated, provisional pension is required to be sanctioned under Rule 64 and 69 of the CCS (Pension) Rules.

The process of preparation of pension papers start at least 24 to 30 months prior to the due date of retirement of the Government servant by the Head of Department/Head of Office/Accounts Officer. The retiring Government servant is to be provided with the application Forms for processing pension papers 2 years prior to the date of his superannuation. Eight months prior to the retirement date, the retiring official is required to furnish certain information (for example joint photograph with spouse, family details, name of bank through which pension is to be drawn etc.) to the Head of Office in the prescribed Form. The Head of Office is required to send complete pension papers to the Account Officer not later than 6 months before the date of retirement.

The Head of Office/Accounts Officer is expected to complete the processing of pension papers well in time so that the pensioner is able to draw his pension immediately after his retirement. Pension can be drawn either through the Branch of a Public Sector Bank or through Treasury. The Accounts Officer after going through all the procedures will issue the Pension Payment Order to the Central Pension Accounting Office who will issue the Special Seal Authority to the concerned Bank/Treasury. In fact the PAO is required to dispatch the PPO to the CPAO not later than one month in advance of the retirement date. In case the pensioner wants to change the bank/treasury/place of drawal of pension, he will have to apply to the concerned Accounts Officer/PAO for making necessary correction in the PPO.