BOOK ON “RETIREMENT BENEFITS IN ONE CLICK” – BY DEPARTMENT OF PENSION & PENSIONERS’ WELFARE
Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare has published book on Retirement Benefits in One Click for Central Govt Pensioners.
While the DOPPW has been striving to bring about, from time to time, necessary changes, it is all the more important to keep the pensioners aware about various developments in the pension administration system. Keeping this in view the Department has now decided to bring about Booklet titled “Retirement Benefits in One Click“, which I am sure, will be helpful in creating awareness amongst pensioners. It will also serve as guide for officers and dealing staff dealing with pension related matters in Ministries/Department/Organisation.
PENSION
- The minimum eligibility period for receipt of pension is 10 years. A Central Government servant retiring in accordance with the Pension Rules is entitled to receive pension on completion of at least 10 years of qualifying service.
- In the case of Family Pension the widow is eligible to receive family pension on death of her spouse after completion of one year of continuous service or even before completion of one year if the Government servant had been examined by the appropriate Medical Authority and declared fit for Government service.
- W.e.f 1.1.2006, Pension is calculated with reference to emoluments (i.e.last basic pay) or average emoluments (i.e. average of the basic pay drawn during the last 10 months of the service) whichever is more beneficial. The amount of pension is 50% of the emoluments or average emoluments whichever is beneficial.
- Minimum pension presently is Rs. 9000 per month. Maximum limit on pension is 50% of the highest pay in the Government of India (presently Rs. 1,25,000) per month. Pension is payable up to and including the date of death.
1. A Government servant becomes eligible for a pension under any of the following circumstances-
a. Superannuation Pension (Rule 35) : On superannuation after completion of 10 years of service.
b. Retiring Pension (Rule 36): Payable on :
- Voluntary retirement after completion of qualifying service of 30 years under Rule 48 or completion of qualifying service of 20 years under Rule 48-A of CCS(Pension) Rules.
- Voluntary retirement under FR 56(k) after attaining the age of 50 years (in the case of Group A & B) / 55 years (in the case of Group C).
- Voluntary retirement after transfer to surplus cell of DoPT consequent on abolition of post held by the Government servant (Rule 29-A of CCS (Pension) Rules.
- Premature retirement, on grounds of efficiency, under Rule 48 of CCS (Pension) Rules after completion of qualifying service of 30 years and under FR 56(J) after attaining the age of 50 years (in the case of Group A & B)/ 55 years (in the case of Group C).
c. Pension on absorption (Rule 37, 37-A and 37-B): On absorption in a PSU/Autonomous Body,
on selection against open advertisement or on en-bloc absorption on conversion of a
Government Department into a PSU/Autonomous Body.
d Invalid Pension (Rule 38): On a Government servant opting to retire on account of any bodily or mental infirmity which permanently incapacitates him for the service. Invalid Pension is admissible even in cases where a Government servant retires before completion of a qualifying service of ten years.
e. Compensation Pension (Rule 39): On discharge of a Government servant owing to the abolition of his permanent post.
f. Compulsory Retirement Pension (Rule 40): On imposition of a penalty of Compulsory Retirement consequent on any departmental proceedings or on conviction by a court of law in a judicial proceedings. The amount of pension in such cases shall not be reduced up to two- thirds of compensation pension.
g. Compassionate Allowance (Rule 41): On dismissal/removal from service in departmental/ judicial proceedings, Government servant loses his right to pension. However, in cases deserving of special consideration, competent authority may sanction a compassionate allowance not more than two thirds of compensation pension but not less than the minimum pension (i.e Rs. 9000/- per month).
2. Resignation (other than technical resignation to join other departments/ organisation with proper permission) entails forfeiture of past service. Therefore, no pension is payable on resignation (Rule 26).
3. A Government servant is entitled to receive only Service Gratuity in lieu of Pension, if his total qualifying service is less than 10 years. This is one-time lumpsum payment in lieu of pension and is distinct from and is paid over and above the Retirement Gratuity.
4. The amount of pension under the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 in all cases is 50 per cent of the emoluments (last pay drawn) or 50 per cent of the average emoluments (average of last 10 months’ pay), whichever is more beneficial to the retiring Government servant (Rule 49).
5. In calculating the length of qualifying service, fraction of a year equal to three months and above shall be treated as a completed one half-year and reckoned as qualifying service
6. While issuing PPO to Central Government employee on retirement , family Pension is also authorized in PPO to spouse. The spouse has to submit an application along with the death certificate to the Pension paying Bank, if his/her name is indicated in PPO and having joint account with the deceased pensioner for commencement of family pension.
7. The President may withhold or withdraw a pension or a part of it, permanently or for a specified period. However, UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) shall be consulted before passing the final order.
8. In the case of Government servant who has retired on attaining the age of superannuation and against, whom any departmental or judicial proceedings are continued, a provisional pension shall be sanctioned to him till the conclusion of proceedings/order .
9. If a pensioner who immediately before his retirement was a member of Central Service Group ‘A’ wishes to accept any commercial employment before the expiry of one year from the date of his retirement, he shall obtain the previous sanction of the Government to such acceptance .
10. The Head of Office in consultation with the Accounts Officer shall, verify the service rendered by such a Government servant on completion of eighteen years and on his being left with five years of service before the date of retirement. The period of qualifying service shall be communicate to him, in Form 24.
11. The expression ’emoluments’ means basic pay (excluding DA)which a Government servant was receiving immediately before his retirement or on the date of his death and will also include non-practising allowance granted to medical officer in lieu of private practice.
12. If a Government servant immediately before his retirement or death while in service, was on earned leave, and earned an increment which was not withheld, such increment, though not actually drawn, shall form part of his emoluments.
13. Additional pension shall be payable to the retired Government servant after completion of eighty years of age or above. It shall be payable from first day of the calendar month in which it falls due in following manner :
| Age of Pensioner | Additional Pension |
| 80 years to less than 85 years | 20% of basic pension |
| 85 years to less than 90 years | 30% of basic pension |
| 90 years to less than 95 years | 40% of basic pension |
| 95 years to less than 100 years | 50% of basic pension |
| 100 years or more | 100% of basic pension |
GRATUITY
1. A Government servant on retirement from service will be eligible for retirement gratuity equal to one-fourth of his emoluments for each completed six monthly period of qualifying service, subject to a maximum of I6V2 times the emoluments.
2. Retirement gratuity is payable if a Government servant has completed a minimum qualifying service of five years on retirement and has become eligible for either pension or service gratuity.
3. If a Government servant dies while in service, the death gratuity shall be paid to his family in the following manner
| Qualifying Service | Rate |
| Less than one year | 2 times of basic pay |
| One year or more but less than 5 years | 6 times of basic pay |
| 5 years or more but less than 11 years | 12 times of basic pay |
| 11 years or more but less than 20 years | 20 times of basic pay |
| 20 years or more | Half of emoluments for every completed 6 monthly period of qualifying service subject to a maximum of 33 times of emoluments. |
4. The amount of retirement gratuity or death gratuity payable under CCS(Pension) Rules shall in no case exceed twenty lakh rupees.
5. The dearness allowance shall also be taken as emoluments for the purpose computation of gratuity.
6. The Government servant may nominate any of the following family member to receive gratuity.
| 1. | wife or wives including judicially separated wife or wives in the case of a male Government servant, | |
| 2. | husband, including judicially separated husband in the case of a female Government servant, | |
| 3. | sons including stepsons and adopted sons, | |
| 4. | unmarried daughters including stepdaughters and adopted daughters, | |
| 5. | widowed daughters including stepdaughters and adopted daughters, | |
| 6. | Father | including adoptive parents in the case of individuals whose personal law permits adoption, |
| 7. | Mother | including adoptive parents in the case of individuals whose personal law permits adoption, |
| 8. | brothers below the age of eighteen years including stepbrothers, | |
| 9. | unmarried sisters and widowed sisters including stepsisters, | |
| 10. | married daughters, and | |
| 11. | children of a pre-deceased son. | |
7. A Government servant may, at any time, cancel a nomination by sending a notice in writing to the Head of Office. He shall, along with such notice, also send a fresh nomination.
8. If there is no such nomination or if the nomination made does not subsist, the gratuity shall be paid to the spouse and unmarried children (including widowed and unmarried daughter) in equal share.
9. Where a government servant dies while in service or after retirement without receiving the amount of gratuity and leaves behind no family and has made no nomination or the nomination made by him does not subsists amount of death gratuity / retirement gratuity shall be payable to the person in whose favour a succession certificate in respect of the gratuity in question has been granted by a court of law.
10. Interest shall be paid where payment of retirement gratuity has been delayed beyond three months from the date of superannuation.
11. where the payment of death gratuity is delayed beyond six months from the date of death, interest should be paid for the period of delay beyond six months from the date of death.
12. Interest on delayed payment of retirement gratuity would be paid, if the Government servant is exonerated in departmental/judicial proceedings. In such cases, the payment of gratuity will be deemed to have fallen due on the date following the date of retirement.
13. In cases where the disciplinary/judicial proceedings are dropped on account of the death of the Government servant during the pendency of disciplinary/judicial proceedings, the payment of gratuity will be deemed to have fallen due on the date following the date of death. In such cases, interest may be allowed for the period of delay beyond three months from the date of death.
14. In cases where the Government servant is not fully exonerated, the payment of gratuity will be deemed to have fallen due on the date of issue of orders by the competent authority. If the payment of gratuity is delayed in such cases, interest will be payable for the period of delay beyond three months from the date of issue of the above-mentioned orders by the competent authority.
15. Pension or Gratuity can be withheld/withdrawn by the order of the President.
16. Gratuity shall not be paid if departmental or judicial proceedings have been initiated under rule-14 of CCS (CCA) Rules, 1965.
COMMUTATION OF PENSION
A Central Government servant has an option to commute a portion of pension, not exceeding 40% of it, into a lump sum payment. No medical examination is required if the option is exercised within one year of retirement. If the option is exercised after expiry of one year, he/she will have to under-go medical examination by the specified competent authority.
Lump sum payable is calculated with reference to the Commutation Table. The monthly pension will stand reduced by the portion commuted and the commuted portion will be restored on the expiry of 15 years from the date of receipt of the commuted value of pension. Dearness Relief, however, will continue to be calculated on the basis of the original pension (i.e. without reduction of commuted portion).
The formula for arriving for commuted value of Pension (CVP) is
CVP = 40 % (X) Commutation factor* (X)12
* The commutation factor will be with reference to age next birthday on the date on which commutation becomes absolute as per the New Table annexed to the CCS (Commutation of Pension) Rules, 1981.
PENSION PAYMENT PROCEDURE
1. The pension case of a Government servant shall be processed mandatorily through ‘Bhavishya’ (an online portal for pension sanction) w.e.f 1/1/2017.
2. The Government servant shall submit the claim form 6 months before the date of retirement.
3. HOO shall forward the pension case to the PAO 4 months before the date of retirement.
4. The Accounts Officer shall apply the requisite checks, and issue the pension payment order not later than one month in advance of the date of the retirement of a Government servant on attaining the age of superannuation. For this purpose, he will examine the correctness of emoluments only for the period of twenty-four months preceding the date of retirement of a Government servant, and not for any period prior to that date.
5. The Accounts Officer shall forward a copy of the Pension Payment Order to the Central Pension Accounting Office, for issuing a Special Seal Authority one month before the date of retirement.
6. The Central Pension Accounting Office shall issue the Special Seal of Authority and forward the same to the Pension Disbursing Authority along with the copy of the Pension Payment Order, within 21 days.
7. The pensioner’s copy of the PPO is to be handed over to him at the time of retirement along with other retirement dues.
8. A Pensioner is not required to visit the bank branch for credit of his/her pension.
PENSION ACCOUNT & DECLARATIONS
1. A pensioner may receive pension by getting it credited to his/ her saving or current bank accounts operated jointly with his/her spouses in whose favour an authorization for family pension exists in the Pension Payment Order (PPO). The joint account of the pensioner with the spouse can be operated either by ‘Former or Survivor’ basis.
2. Following declarations to be submitted by pensioner in the bank for continuation of pension-
a. Life Certificate to be submitted once in a year.
b. Re-employment certificate with pay and allowances or non employment certificate.
c. A pensioner, who immediately before his retirement was a member of Central Service, Group A’, has to give declaration that he has not taken any employment under any Government outside India without obtaining previous permission of the Central Government .
3. Following declarations to be submitted by family pensioner in the bank for continuation of family pension-
a. Life Certificate to be submitted once in a year.
b. He or she has not started earning his or her livelihood. Spouse is not required to submit this declaration.
c. He or she has not yet married or remarried.
d. A similar declaration shall be furnished by the disabled son or daughter to the Pension Disbursing Authority once in a year that he or she has not started earning his or her livelihood. The family pension shall be continued to disabled child even after his or her marriage.
e. Family pension shall be continued to a childless widow even after their remarriage, if her income from all resources is less than minimum family pension.
LIFE CERTIFICATE
1. Every year in the month of November, a Pensioner is required to furnish Life Certificate for further continuation of his/her pension .
2. Pensioners in the age group of 80 years and above, can submit Life Certificate from 1st October, every year, instead of November.
3. Life Certificate can be recorded by Pension disbursing banks, if pensioner physically present himself/herself before pension paying bank branch. Personal appearance of a pensioner will not be required, if he/she submits the life certificate form signed by any designated officer .
4. In order to facilitate pensioners for submission of life certificate online, the portal ‘Jeevan Pramaan’ was launched in November 2014.
5. Digital Life Certificate through Jeevan Pramaan Portal can be submitted from home by attaching biometric device to Personal Computer or laptop .UIDAI has provided details of all biometric devices along with model number and its brand, which are permissible for capturing biometric of a person.
6. While submitting life certificate digitally through Jeevan Pramaan Portal, a Pensioner has to provide Aadhaar Number, Name, Mobile Number PPO Number, Pension Account number, Bank details, Name of Pension Sanctioning Authority, Pension Disbursing Authority. Any incorrect information may lead to rejection of the DLC by the pension disbursing authority.
7. In the process of submitting Life Certificate from Jeevan PramaanPortal, a Pensioner will receive two SMS .
a. SMS 1 : Jeevan Pramaan Portal will send the SMS confirming that Jeevan Pramaan ID has been generated and will be sent to the bank .
b. SMS 2 : The bank will process the information received from Jeevan Pramaan Portal and accept the DLC for further continuation of pension. The DLC can be rejected by bank if the information of bank account number or PPO number is incorrect.
8. DLC can be also submitted from nearest Common Service Centre or from any of the bank branch .
9. India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) through its wide network of Postmen and Gramin Dak Sevaks is providing Doorstep facility to pensioners for submission of Life Certificate digitally.
10. An alliance of Public Sector Banks (PSB) has included submission
of Life Certificate under Doorstep Banking Service. At
present Doorstep service for submission of Life Certificate through Banking Agents is available at 100 major cities.
11. Pension Disbursing Banks have been advised to resort to Video based Life Certificate within the guidelines of RBI. UCO Bank has already started this successfully and other Banks have been asked to follow suit.
12. A pensioner residing in abroad may submit life through any bank included in the Second Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, or any authorized official of Embassy /High Commission /Indian Consulates may issue the Life Certificate.
13. In case a pensioner is unable to visit Embassy /Consulate/High Commission, he/she may submit requisite documents by post to the Embassy/Consulate, including Doctor’s Certificate showing the pensioner’s inability to present himself/herself in person.
14. In wake of pandemic, the timeline for submission of Life Certificate has been extended from 30th November, 2020 onward, till 28th February 2021.
CERTIFICATES TO BE FURNISHED BY THE PENSIONERS
Life Certificate: The pensioner would be required to furnish a life certificate in November each year in the form prescribed . Officers of the Reserve Bank of India and of the Authorised banks listed are authorised to give life certificates for this purpose
TRAVELLING ALLOWANCE ON RETIREMENT
1. The Travelling allowances would be admissible to the retired government servant and member of his family from the last station of his duty to his home town or to the place where he and his family is to settle down permanently even if it is other than his declared home town.
2. T.A. Entitlement on Retirement includes 4 components :
a. Travel entitlement for self and family
b. Composite Transfer grant (CTG)
c. Reimbursement of charges on transportation of personal effects; and
d. Reimbursement of charges on transportation of conveyance
3. If a Government servants who, on retirement, settle at the last station of duty itself or within a distance of less than 20 kms may be paid one third of the CTG subject to the condition that a change of residence is actually involved.
4. The Composite Transfer Grant shall be paid at the rate of 80% of the last month’s basic pay in case of transfer involving a change of station located at a distance of or more than 20 kms from each other.
5. Transportation of Personal Effects : table
Transportation of Personal Effects
| Level | By Train/Steamer | By Road |
| 12 and above | 6000 Kg by goods train/4 wheeler wagon/ 1 double container | Rs. 50/- per km |
| 6 to 11 | 6000 Kg by goods train/4 wheeler wagon/ 1 single container | Rs. 50/- per km |
| 5 | 3000 Kg | Rs. 25/- per km |
| 4 and below | 1500 Kg | Rs. 15/- per km |
6. Transportation of Conveyance: Table
Transportation of Conveyance
| Level | Reimbursement | By Road |
| 6 and above | 1 motor car etc,or 1 motor cycle/ scooter | Rs. 50/- per km |
| 5 and below | 1 motor cycle/ scooter/ moped/ cycle | Rs. 50/- per km |
7. The claim of a Govt. servant to Travelling Allowance on Retirement, is forfeited or deemed to have been relinquished, if the claim for it is not preferred within sixty days succeeding the date of completion of the journey. Similarly, TA claims in r/o transportation of personal effects and conveyance shall be submitted within sixty days succeeding the date on which these are actually delivered to the Govt. servant at the new station.
8. ln respect of claim for Travelling Allowance for journey performed separately by the Retired officer and members of his family, the dates should be reckoned separately for each journey and the claim shall be submitted within sixty days succeeding the date of completion of each individual journey.
CGEGIS
A portion of monthly contributions paid while in service is credited in a Saving Fund, on which interest accrues. A Government servant while entering service has to apply in Form No. 4 of the above Scheme to the Head of Office, who shall issue a sanction for the payment of subscriber’s accumulation in the Savings Fund segment together with interest and arrange for its disbursement, soon after retirement. Payments under this Scheme are made in accordance with the Table of Benefit (as issued by Department of Expenditure) which takes in to account interest up to the date of cessation of service. Insurance cover benefit under this Scheme is available to the family in the event of death of the subscriber.
1. The scheme was notified on 1st November, 1980 and came into effect from 1st January 1982 with the objective to provide a low cost self reliant insurance coverage to Government servant .
2. The Scheme has got two funds, i.e. Insurance Fund and
Savings Fund. The subscription to the scheme is apportioned between the Insurance Fund and the Savings Fund at the rate of 30% to Insurance Fund and 70% to Savings Fund.
3. The balance in the Savings Fund with accumulated interest thereon will be paid back to the employees who retire, reign from service, etc. The interest on saving fund is calculated based on table published by DOE on quarterly basis.
4. It is recoverable every month till the end of service including the month in which the employee retires, dies, resigns or is removed from service etc.
5. In order to avoid delay in the payment of CGEIS, DOE has issued direction to pay the amount of CGEIS without verifying each and every contribution, if service of that particular period is verified.
6. On death of a Government servant during service, an insurance amount of Rs. 1,20,000/-, Rs. 60000/- and Rs. 30000/- is paid to the family of a Group A, Group B and Group C Government servant, respectively, in addition to the amount in the savings fund.
LEAVE ENCASHMENT
Encashment of leave is a benefit granted under the CCS (Leave) Rules and is not a pensionary benefit. Encashment of Earned Leave/Half Pay Leave standing at the credit of the retiring Government servant is admissible on the date of retirement subject to a maximum of 300 days.
1. Earned Leave and Half Pay Leave shall be considered for encashment of leave on retirement subject to overall limit of 300 days.
2. The cash equivalent payable for Earned Leave shall be calculated on the last Pay drawn and the Dearness Allowance admissible on the last pay.
3. The Cash equivalent for half pay leave component shall be equal to leave salary as admissible for Half Pay Leave plus Dearness Allowance admissible on the leave salary.
4. Delays in reckoning the leave accumulations at the credit of Government servant at any stage, particularly at the time of his retirement on superannuation, can be construed as administrative lapse.
GPF
As per General Provident fund (Central Services) Rules, 1960 all temporary Government servants after a continuous service of one year, all re-employed pensioners (Other than those eligible for admission to the Contributory Provident Fund) and all permanent Government servants are eligible to subscribe to the Fund. However, these rules are not applicable to any of the Government Servants who join service on or after 1.1.2004. A subscriber, at the time of joining the fund is required to make a nomination, in the prescribed form, conferring on one or more persons the right to receive the amount that may stand to his credit in the fund in the event of his death, before that amount has become payable or having become payable has not been paid. A subscriber shall subscribe monthly to the Fund except during the period when he is under suspension. Subscriptions to the Provident Fund are stopped 3 months prior to the date of superannuation. Rates of subscription shall not be less than 6% of subscriber’s emoluments are not more than his emoluments. Rate of interest varies according to notifications of the Government issued from time to time. The rules provide for drawal advances/ withdrawals from the fund for specific purposes.
The conditions for withdrawal from the fund have been liberalized and now no documentary proof is required to be furnished by the subscriber for GPF withdrawal. On retirement of a subscriber, instructions have been issued for immediate payment of final balance on retirement. No application is required to be submitted by the subscriber for final payment from the fund.
1. A subscriber shall, nominate one or more family members to receive the amount that may stand to his credit in the fund, in the event of his death.
2. The subscriber may nominate following family members to receive the GPF accumulation after his death –
a. Spouse
b. Parents
c. Children,
d. minor brothers,
e. unmarried sisters
f. deceased son’s widow and children
g. and where no parents of the subscriber is alive, a paternal grandparent.
3. Female subscriber by notice in writing to the Accounts Officer can exclude the name of her husband from the definition of family for the purpose of receiving GPF accumulation after her death.
4. Every nomination made and cancellation given by subscriber shall take effect on the date on which the Accounts Officer receives it. But nomination/cancellation of nomination of a subscriber held valid even if he dies before it reaches the Accounts Officer.
5. Subscription to be compulsorily discontinued during the last 3 months of service on superannuation.
6. A Government servant within 2 years of his retirement on superannuation may withdraw upto 90% of the balance in his GPF account, without assigning any reason.
7. No application is required for final payment of GPF at the time of retirement.
8. If there is delayed in the final payment of GPF after retirement, the Interest to be paid at the end of the month preceding that in which the payment is made, or up to the end of the sixth month after the month in which such amount, became payable whichever of these periods be less.
9. A complete statement of all credits, debits and interest, since inception of the GPF account, shall be provided to every subscriber, mandatorily two years before his date of retirement and thereafter one year before the date of retirement.
Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme
Under the GPF Rules, on the death of subscriber, the person entitled to receive the amount standing to the credit of the subscriber shall be paid an additional amount equal to the average balance in the account during the 3 years immediately preceding the death of the subscriber subject to certain conditions provided in the relevant Rule. The additional amount payable under that Rule shall not exceed Rs. 60,000/-. To get this benefit, the subscriber should have put in at least 5 years service at the time of his/her death.
Contributory Provident Fund
The Contributory Provident Fund Rules (India), ,1962 are applicable to every non-pensionable servant of the Government belonging to any of the services under the control of the President. A subscriber, at the time of joining the Fund is required to make a nomination in the prescribed Form conferring on one or more persons the right to receive the amount that may stand to his credit in the Fund in the event of his death, before that amount has become payable or having become payable has not been paid.
A subscriber shall subscribe monthly to the Fund when on duty or Foreign Service but not during the period of suspension. Rates of subscription shall not be less than 10% of the emoluments and not more than his emoluments. The employer’s contribution at that percentage prescribed by the Government will be credited to the subscriber’s account and this is 10%. The Rules provide for drawal of advances/ withdrawals from the CPF for specific purposes. As in GPF Rules, the CPF Rules also provide for Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme.
FIXED MEDICAL ALLOWANCE
1. The amount of Fixed Medical Allowance has been increased from Rs 500 /- to Rs 1000/- Per Month w.e.f 29.11.14.
2. Fixed Medical allowance is payable to the pensioners residing in non CGHS area.
3. The pensioners residing in a place where CGHS facilities are available cannot opt for Medical Allowance of in lieu of OPD facilities.