Family Pension Following the Death of a Central Government Pensioner: The Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) recently took action to put an end to the harassment of a deceased Central Government pensioner’s spouse and family members. When a pensioner dies, the Pension Disbursing Banks urge the deceased’s spouse or family members to provide information and papers that are not even necessary for the start of the family pension.
The DoPPW stated in a letter to the banks that “this constitutes to harassment of the spouse and family members and frequently leads to needless delay at the beginning of family pension by the Banks.” The DoPPW has asked that banks give just “minimal needed data from family pension applicants and guarantee that pension seekers are not harassed.”
According to the letter, information about family members other than the Applicant is irrelevant to the bank’s decision to start a family pension. As a result, banks should never request such information from an application.
“The details of family members other than the Applicant are not relevant for the bank’s initiation of family pension and, as a result, should not be sought from the Applicant under any circumstances,” the letter stated.
Documents needed to obtain a family pension
According to DoPPW, the spouse/family member whose name appears on the PPO given to the dead pensioner is only necessary to provide the following papers for the family pension to be paid to him/her:
Case 1: If the dead pensioner and his or her spouse shared an account:
- A basic letter/application for the start of a family pension.
- Death certificate for the deceased pensioner
- A copy of the PPO was given to the pensioner.
- Proof of the applicant’s age/birthdate
According to the DoPPW, in this scenario, the spouse/family member is not necessary to submit the data in Form 14 to the Bank for the family pension to begin.
Case 2: If the spouse and the dead pensioner did not have a joint account – Application in Form 14 with the signatures of two witnesses
- Death certificate of the deceased pensioner
- If available, a copy of the pensioner’s PPO.
- Proof of the applicant’s age/birthdate
According to the DoPPW, Form 14 does not need to be attested by a Gazetted official in this situation. Rather, the paying bank must identify the spouse/family member using the information provided in the PPO and its KYC processes.
Case 3: If the pensioner’s and spouse’s family pension must be transferred to another family member after the pensioner’s and spouse’s death
- If the other family member has been co-authorized for family pension in the PPO, the same procedure as in Case 2 must be followed.
- If the other family member’s name is not on the PPO, he or she should be encouraged to contact the office where the Government servant/pensioner last worked for the issuance of a new PPO.
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