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10.5 million people use digital certificates for pensions: Data
“The digital life certificate works for every account that is Aadhaar-seeded,” an official said on condition of anonymity. “The person can buy a biometric device for authentication that can be connected to the phone or a laptop to generate the certificate. This eliminates the need to validate the certificate at multiple locations.”
Nearly 10.05 million people, including private citizens and former government employees, use digital life certificates to claim pension payments, according to official data. The total number of government pensioners in the country is estimated at 6.8 million.
“The digital life certificate works for every account that is Aadhaar-seeded,” an official said on condition of anonymity. “The person can buy a biometric device for authentication that can be connected to the phone or a laptop to generate the certificate. This eliminates the need to validate the certificate at multiple locations.”
The digital life certificate was first launched in 2014, with the government emphasizing its value in 2017. It has since become an easier option for pensioners, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Of the 10 million who have signed up for a digital life certificate, 2.4 million are government pensioners. Of these, 491,000 are central government retirees, while 1.1 million are from the armed services. Over 200,000 are from the postal department and nearly 300,000 are from railways.
Overall, there are 6.8 million central government pensioners, which includes civil, defence and railways. The digital life certificate is verified by Unique Identification Authority of India, which sends it to the bank. Although the scheme was originally rolled out for central government pensioners, it has since been used by private citizens as well.
The verified certificates are directly submitted to the banks that disburse the pensions.
The government has been working to overhaul the pension system to decrease delays and address lacunae in the system. Most recently, it has brought railway pensioners under the central department. The government nod means pension rules that govern all former central government employees will also be applicable to railways officials. Till now, because of the department’s organisational structure, pensions were governed by the Railway Service (Pension) Rules, 1993.
The proposal regarding changing the pension rules was moved by the parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances and law and justice.
There are about 1.5 million railway pensioners in the country, an official familiar with the matter said, declining to be named.
While their data will likely be integrated with the Bhavishya portal, the pensioners may have to register on the website as well. The process to integrate the two will begin shortly.
