New Delhi, March 12 All banks disbursing pensions have been directed to monitor the failure of pensioners to submit digital life certificates and to make arrangements to ensure their submission, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Thursday.
To address the issue of difficulty in submitting digital life certificates (DLCs) through biometric mechanisms for elderly pensioners, the Government of India has launched the face authentication technique, which requires only a smartphone for generating DLCs, Union Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh said in a written reply to a question.
"All banks disbursing pensions have been directed to monitor the submission of DLCs and to make arrangements to ensure their submission," he said.
Singh said the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare also monitors the banks to ensure the submission of DLCs. All pensioners are required to submit a life certificate to continue receiving pension payments.
"The services of India Post and Payments Bank, post offices, and Gramin Dak Sevaks are also utilized to help senior citizens, especially those over 80 years of age, to submit their DLCs. Pensioners over 80 years can also submit their DLCs in October," the minister said.
Mega camps are held in places with a large concentration of pensioners, he said, adding that during DLC campaigns, provisions are made for doorstep delivery of services to the elderly, those who are sick or incapacitated, and pensioners with disabilities.
To address the practical difficulties faced by senior citizens, especially those over 80 years of age, including those in the most remote areas, nationwide DLC campaigns are being held from November 1 to 30 every year from 2022 onwards, in which DLC camps are held at multiple locations, Singh said.
In a separate reply, the minister said that as of March 6, 2026, the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare conducted 15 pension adalats for pensioners of all ministries and departments of the Centre, wherein, 27,812 long-pending grievances on the CPENGRAMS portal were taken up and 19,948 cases were resolved on the spot.
The Centralised Pension Grievances Redress And Monitoring System (CPENGRAMS) is an online portal for the registration, tracking, and redressal of pensioners' grievances.
The remaining grievances have also been addressed or taken to a final resolution through follow-up meetings and monitoring, Singh said, adding that these pension adalats are held in a hybrid mode.
