eGovWatch: Government asks pensioners to link Aadhaar numbers with banks

All central government pensioners should register their Aadhaar numbers with banks in order to avoid any problems faced by them in getting pension, the Centre has said.

“All the pensioners or family pensioners are, therefore, advised to get themselves and their family members registered for Aadhaar and furnish this information to the pension disbursing authority,” an order issued by Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said.

This exercise may be completed at an early date so as to avoid inconvenience at the time of submission of life certificate in November, 2015, it said.

The move is a part of initiatives being taken by the Centre to ensure hassle free disbursal of pension to pensioners.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in November last year launched an Aadhaar-based biometric verification system ‘Jeevan Pramaan’ to enable pensioners to submit a digital life certificate on-line.

“This is an important step in realising the vision of Digital India. This facility has been provided in addition to the other existing methods of submitting life certificate,” the order said.

Jeevan Pramaan aims at sparing the pensioners and family pensioners the trouble of visiting bank or any other pension disbursing agency for submission of life certificates.

“It is possible to submit the life certificate from personal computers and laptops or by visiting a conveniently located common service centre. “Further, banks by linking Aadhaar number with bank accounts and pension payment order (PPO) numbers will ensure authenticity of pension and other payments,” it said.

There are about 50 lakh central government pensioners.