Entitlement on Invalidation under Unified Pension Scheme: DoPPW Clarifies Rules

The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) has issued a detailed Office Memorandum outlining the entitlements and procedures for Central Government employees who retire on account of invalidation after opting for the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) under the National Pension System (NPS).

The memorandum, issued under No. 57/03/2022-P&PW(B)/8361(8), provides clarity on the steps to be followed when a government servant becomes permanently incapacitated due to bodily or mental infirmity and seeks retirement on invalidation.

Applicability of the Rules

The provisions are derived from:

Rule 17 of the Central Civil Services (Implementation of Unified Pension Scheme under the National Pension System) Rules, 2025; and
The Central Civil Services (Payment of Gratuity under National Pension System) Rules, 2021.

These rules are applicable from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.

Procedure for Retirement on Invalidation

According to the memorandum:

A Central Government employee who has opted for UPS and is not covered under Section 20 of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, may apply for retirement on account of invalidation if permanently incapacitated.
The Head of Department must, within 15 days of receiving such application, refer the case to the specified medical authority for examination within 30 days.
The medical authority will determine whether the employee is:
- Unfit for further service; or
- Fit for less laborious work than their current role.

If unfit, the employee may be granted invalidation retirement benefits.

Provision for Employment in Lower Posts

If the medical authority finds the employee fit for lighter duties, the department must offer employment in a lower post, if available.
If such a position is unavailable, the employee will still be eligible for invalidation retirement benefits.

Entitlement Based on Pension Scheme Chosen

The OM further clarifies two scenarios based on the employee’s pension scheme option:

Category of Employee	Entitlement
Employees who opted for or were defaulted to CCS (Pension) Rules, 2021 or CCS (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, 2023	Benefits will be governed under respective Pension Rules.
Employees who opted for Unified Pension Scheme (UPS)	Benefits will be in accordance with the PFRDA (Operationalisation of UPS under NPS) Regulations, 2025.

Additionally, when a subscriber avails benefits under the CCS (Pension) Rules, the UPS corpus account will be closed, and:

The Government’s contribution and returns thereon will be transferred to the Government account.
The remaining amount in the subscriber’s UPS account will be paid in lump sum to the employee.

Entitlement to Gratuity

Employees discharged from service on invalidation under UPS will also be entitled to death gratuity as per Rule 22 of the CCS (Payment of Gratuity under NPS) Rules, 2021.

View OM: