Nomination by pensioners under the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 for payment of life-time arrears: DOPPW OM dated 31.03.2022

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Nomination by pensioners under the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 for payment of life-time arrears: DOPPW OM dated 31.03.2022

No. 1/2(40)/2022-P&PW (E)
Government of India
Ministry of Personnel, P.G. & Pensions
Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare

3rd Floor, Lok Nayak Bhawan,
Khan Market, New Delhi,
Dated March 31, 2022

To
The CMDs of Pension Disbursing Banks
CPPCs of Pension Disbursing Banks

Subject: Nomination by pensioners under the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 for payment of life-time arrears

I am directed to say that in accordance with the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 notified on 10.09.1983 (Annexure-1), pensioners who retired before the notification of the Rules were required to submit nomination to the respective Pension Disbursing Authority. Every employee who retired or will retire after the notification of the Rules, was/is required to submit the nomination, in triplicate, in Form “A” to the Head of Office or the Department from where he retired/ is retiring. The Head of Office is required to return a duly attested duplicate copy of the nomination in Form “A” to the pensioner. The triplicate copy of the nomination is to be passed on to the Pension Disbursing Authority along with the Pension Payment Order, through the PAO/CPAO

2. The pensioner can, subsequently, modify the nomination (if nominee pre-deceases the pensioner, or otherwise) by submitting Form “A” in triplicate to the Pension Disbursing Authority. The Pension Disbursing Authority is required to return to the pensioner the duly attested duplicate copy of the nomination within thirty days of the receipt of nomination. The triplicate copy is to be sent to the Accounts Officer of the Department from where the pensioner had retired while the original copy of the nomination shall be recorded with the PDA. If any arrears of pension accrue after the death of a pensioner, such arrears of pension are paid to the person in whose favour a nomination under the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 exists.

3. Representations have been received in this Department from some pensioners / pensioners’ associations that, quite often, when pensioners submit their nominations to the Pension Disbursing Authority (PDA), there is reluctance on the part of the bank staff to accept these nominations as they are not quite conversant with the above rules. Further, in case a nomination is accepted by the bank, the pensioner is not aware of its safe custody and its retrieval when needed because he is not sure whether the nomination has been fed into the system of the Bank.

4. The matter has been examined in this Department. The procedure for submission and acknowledgement of nominations for life-time arrears of pension is well defined in the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983. All retiring Government employees are mandatorily required to submit the nomination for arrears of pension in Form A while filling up the pension papers. This nomination is then forwarded to the Pension Disbursing Authority along with the PPO.

5. In most cases, the problem of non-availability of nomination may be due to improper handling of the nominations by the Banks, as the Banks may not be keeping a proper record of the nominations. The problem may also arise if the nomination submitted at the time of retirement becomes invalid on account of the nominee predeceasing the pensioner or for some other reason and the pensioner fails to submit a fresh nomination to the Bank in Form A or the staff in the Bank Branches does not accept the nomination due to ignorance.

6. In view of the above, all Ministries/Departments, Accounts Offices/CPAO and Pension Disbursing Authorities/Banks are enjoined upon to strictly follow the procedure for handling of the nominations of the pensioners submitted under the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983. In short, the following actions are required to be taken by Ministries/Departments, Accounts Offices/CPAO and Pension Disbursing Authorities/Banks in this regard:

Actions by Ministries/Departments and attached/subordinate offices thereunder

i. Obtain nomination in Form A from the retiring employees, in triplicate. The Head of Office or Department must return the duly attested duplicate copy of the nomination to the retiring employee, as acknowledgement, within 30 days of the receipt of nomination from the retiring employee.

ii. Affix the acceptance of nomination in the triplicate copy of the nomination form and forward it to the Accounts Officer, along with the pension papers/pension case, for onward transmission to the CPAO/Pension Disbursing Authority along with the Pension Payment Order.

Action by the Accounts Officers

i. Forward the triplicate copy of the nomination form, duly accepted by the Head of Office, along with the Pension Payment Order, to the Central Pension Accounting Office for onward transmission to the Pension Disbursing Authority along with the Pension Payment Order/Special Seal Authority.

Action by the Central Pension Accounting Office

i Forward the triplicate copy of the nomination form, duly accepted by the Head of Office, along with the Pension Payment Order to the Pension Disbursing Authority/Bank along with the Pension Payment Order/Special Seal Authority.

Actions by the Pension Disbursing Authority/Bank

i. Retain the triplicate copy of the nomination of the pensioner, as received from Accounts Officer/CPAO, for record.

ii. Keep a proper record in their system in respect of the nominations received from the Accounts offices/CPAO.

iii. Review the availability of nomination under the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 in respect of all pensioners. In case, nomination in respect of any pensioner is not available in the record of the PDA/Bank, the concerned pensioner may be advised by the PDA/Bank to submit the same in Form A forthwith

iv. Accept any modification of existing nomination/fresh nomination from the pensioner in Form A (in triplicate) of the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 and return to the pensioner the duly attested duplicate copy of the nomination within thirty days of the receipt of nomination.

v. Send the triplicate copy of the nomination to the CPAO/Accounts Officer of the Department from where the pensioner had retired and retain the original copy of the nomination for record.

vi. Instruct the staff dealing with pensioners to accept any fresh nomination or modification in the existing nomination submitted by the pensioners in Form A.

vii. Keep a proper record in their system in respect of the fresh nominations/modifications received from the pensioners.

viii. Indicate the status of availability of nomination under the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 in Pension Seva Portals or any other similar portal maintained by them.

ix. Indicate the status of availability of nomination under the Payment of Arrears of Pension (Nomination) Rules, 1983 in the monthly pension slips issued by them to the pensioners.

7. The above instructions may be circulated widely for strict compliance by all concerned.

8. This issues with the approval of Competent Authority.

(Sanjoy Shankar)
Deputy Secretary to the Government of India

Copy to
1. All Ministries/Departments
2. CGA/CPAO
3. C&AG/AGs
4. NIC for uploading on Department’s Website

Source: DOPPW