Being a Pensioner is considered as the most peaceful time of one’s lifetime. It is that time of one’s age when old age treats you like a dearest friend, you have peacefully retired from your job, you are away from the worries of household responsibilities, and you get that sum of your income as pension for which you’ve invested your whole life.
Seems great, right? But when has life been so easy and for the senior citizens the word easy doesn’t exist. For there are old age problems, diseases to deal with and to top it there are money matters. Most of the senior citizens depend upon their pension(apart from savings) for their livelihood. But to avail pension is not an easier job. Apart from all the technicalities, there is this thing called “Life Certificate Form” which has to be filled and submitted every year by the pensioners.
As per the website of Jeewan Praman, there are more than one crore pensioner families in India, who are dependent on the pension issued by the government for their sustainability. The most necessary requirement of these individuals after service is of procuring the Life Certificate.
Although, It’s not just this form but the doubts and proceedings that follow with it which are more tiresome. Often, there are confusions regarding what and why life certificate form and how can it be filled. In this article, we will be clearing all the ambiguities related to it.
What is a Life Certificate?
Life Certificate or Certificate of Existence, Letter of Existence, Life Certificate, Proof of Life as the name goes by is a certificate produced by an entrusted authority whether the individual is alive or not when it is being created.
It is, usually, demanded by Government Bodies and insurance companies to check the living status of the individual so that they can’t overpay the pension or annuities.
In India, Life Certificate is known as “Jeewan Pramaan Patra” and if you are a government pensioner, you have to submit the Life Certificate form in the month of November every year.
Why Life Certificate Form is needed?
As mentioned above, a Life Certificate is required to prove the living status of an individual to the Pension Disbursing Agency (PDA), like bank or post office, for a fluent and easy transfer of pension.
How to avail Life Certificate Form?
Earlier, it was required for the individual taking out a pension to be personally present himself/herself before the Pension Disbursing Agency or either delivered it directly to the PDA. If not both of these cases, then the certificate must be issued by the authority where the individual had served.
But considering the troubles faced by the senior citizens in submitting the Life Certificate Form, the government in 2014 launched the scheme of Digital Life Certificate(DLC) wherein the individuals can submit it online. Earlier the pensioner had to take the troubles of travelling even in the bedridden state, as failing to submit the Life Certificate before 30th November results in cancellation of pension.
After DLC, it became easier to process the life certificate and thus the pension as well. Nowadays, digital life certificates are used for proofing.
One can avail the Digital Life Certification from the Citizen Service Centre(CSC) or the Pension Disbursing Agency such as a bank, post office, etc. or through the application. The nearest centre can be searched under the “Locate a Centre” tab of https://jeevanpramaan.gov.in/
The Process of obtaining a Digital Life Certificate (DLC):
Either once can visit the nearest centre or can download the software application and provide the necessary details like Aadhar Number, Pension Payment Order, Bank account number, Bank account and Mobile Number and then authenticate themselves by providing biometrics i.e., either fingerprint or iris. Post the successful authentication, an SMS is sent to the concerned mobile number with a Jeewan Pramaan Certificate ID which can be used on the website to access the Digital Life Certificate. This way, the Pension Disbursing Agency can also avail the certificate directly from the jeewan pramaan website only.
Points to Remember:
● The Pension Sanctioning Authority (PSA) needs to be authorized with Jeewan Pramaan to avail this facility.
● The validity of this certificate is of a certain period and needs to be renewed timely.
With this, one can successfully avail the life certificate and can assure the timely and hassle-free pension credit.
