Master Circular - Disbursement of Government Pension by Agency Banks (Updated as on May 17, 2021) - RBI - Reserve Bank of India
Master Circular - Disbursement of Government Pension by Agency Banks (Updated as on May 17, 2021)
RBI/2021-22/08 April 1, 2021 All Agency Banks Dear Sir/Madam Master Circular - Disbursement of Government Pension by Agency Banks Please refer to our Master Circular RBI/2020-21/06 dated July 1, 2020 on the above subject. We have now revised and updated the Master Circular which consolidates important instructions on the subject issued by the Reserve Bank of India till March 31, 2021 2. A copy of the revised Master Circular is enclosed for your information. This circular may also be downloaded from our website /en/web/rbi/notifications/master-circulars. Yours faithfully (R. Kamalakannan) Encl.: As above Master Circular – Disbursement of Government Pension by Agency Banks Introduction Payment of pension to retired government employees, including payment of basic pension, increased Dearness Relief (DR), and other benefits as and when announced by the governments, is governed by the relevant schemes prepared by concerned Ministries/Departments of the Government of India and State Governments. This Master Circular consolidates important instructions on the subject issued by the Reserve Bank of India till March 31, 2021 (listed in Appendix). It does not replace or supersede any existing government instructions on the matter. The instructions issued by Pension Sanctioning Authority of the Central and State Governments and circulated by RBI in the past will continue to remain in operation subject to changes being made by the competent authority. In case of any doubt or apparent contradiction, agency banks may be guided by the relevant government instructions. Contents of various circulars issued in this connection by the Reserve Bank of India are summarized here under. General Instructions Government orders on DR, etc. on websites 2. In order to obviate the time lag between issue of DR orders and payment of DR to the beneficiary and to render expeditious service to senior citizens, the following actions are required to be taken:
Timing of pension disbursement by agency banks. 3. The pension paying banks will credit the pension amount in the accounts of the pensioners based on the instructions given by respective Pension Paying Authorities. Refund of excess pension payment to Government 4. Whenever any excess/overpayment is detected the entire amount thereof should be credited to the Government account in lump sum immediately when the excess/overpayment is due to an error on the part of the agency bank. This action is independent of recovery from the pensioner. Agency banks are requested to seek guidance from respective Pension Sanctioning Authorities regarding the process to be followed for recovery of excess pension paid to the pensioners, if any. 5. If the excess/wrong payment to the pensioner is due to errors committed by the government, banks may take up the matter with the full particulars of the cases with respective Government Department for a quick resolution of the matter. However, this must be a time bound exercise and the government authority’s acknowledgement to this effect must be kept on the bank’s record. The banks may take up such cases with government departments without reference to the Reserve Bank of India. Withdrawal of pension by old/ sick/ disabled/ incapacitated pensioners 6. In order to take care of problems/ difficulties faced by sick and disabled pensioners in withdrawal of pension / family pension from the banks, agency banks may categorise such pensioners as under:
7. With a view to enabling such old/sick/incapacitated pensioners to operate their accounts, banks may follow the procedure as under:
8. Accordingly, the agency banks are requested to instruct their branches to display the instructions issued in this regard on their notice board so that sick and disabled pensioners could make full use of these facilities. Agency Banks are also advised to strictly implement the instructions issued by RBI regarding the facilities to be provided to the sick and disabled persons and sensitise staff members in the matter and to refer to the FAQs on pension disbursement hosted on our website www.rbi.org.in in case of any doubt. Reimbursement of pension payments 9. Link branches of agency banks may submit reimbursement claims to Reserve Bank of India, Central Accounts Section, Nagpur / Government Banking Division at Regional Office for Central/State Government pension payments. Continuation of either or survivor pension account after death of pensioner 10. All agency banks disbursing Central Government pension have been advised that in case the spouse (Family pensioner) opts for existing joint account for credit of family pension, banks should not insist on opening a new account when the spouse is the survivor and having a joint account with the pensioner and in whose favour an authorisation for payment of family pension exists in the Pension Payment Order (PPO). Life Certificate - Issuance of Acknowledgement 11. There have been complaints that life certificates submitted over the counter of pension paying branches are misplaced causing delay in payment of monthly pensions. In order to alleviate the hardships faced by pensioners, agency banks were instructed to mandatorily issue duly signed acknowledgements. They were also advised to consider entering the receipt of life certificates in their CBS and issue a system generated acknowledgement which would serve the twin purpose of acknowledgement as well as real time updation of records. Single Window System for reimbursement of Pension Payments 12. Single Window System was introduced to facilitate prompt settlement of reimbursement claims and reconciliation. The underlying objective is to make each pension paying bank responsible in its own right to effect settlement without the intervention of RBI Offices or SBI (at District Headquarters) in the process eliminating cause of delay in reimbursement claims. Customer Service 13. All agency banks may issue instructions to their dealing branches to adhere to the recommendations of the Prabhakar Rao Committee relating to pension payments. A checklist may be provided to the inspecting officers/auditors, which may at a minimum include the items given in Annex 1. Agency banks may also instruct their internal auditors/inspectors to comment on the quality of customer service in their reports which may be made available to Reserve Bank’s inspecting officers, as and when they visit the branches. 14. Grievances of pensioners are not being addressed properly at the branch level especially after the setting up of Centralised Pension Processing Centres (CPPCs). To provide hassle free service to the pensioners, there should be a forum for regular interaction and settlement of grievances. Accordingly, agency banks should appoint one/two nodal officers at each Region/Zone for monitoring the resolution of grievances of pensioners on regular basis and the GM/CGM concerned should review the position at monthly intervals 15. At locations outside the CPPCs, there should be designated nodal officers for pension related complaints who should be easily accessible to pensioners and who should hold regular meetings at different locations in their jurisdiction on the lines of Pension Adalat. Each bank should establish toll free dedicated pension line manned by trained persons with access to the database to answer queries, note down and redress complaints. 16. Following several complaints from pensioners alleging inordinate delay in disbursing revised pension and arrears, agency banks are advised as under:
Checklist relating to Government Business (pension related) for internal/concurrent audit Internal inspections should assess branch performance in servicing pensioner customers. In this regard, the following may be ensured: 1. A specific questionnaire covering all aspects of pension payment may be devised for use during inspection of pension paying branches. 2. Inspecting officers may also, during inspections, call up pensioners at random and enquire about their satisfaction with pension-related services. 3. A detailed check-list relating to pension payments/government business may be given by banks to internal auditors/inspectors in order to adhere to the recommendations of the Prabhakar Rao Committee, constituted by the Government of India, relating to pension payments/government business. These include the following:
List of circulars consolidated for the Master Circular
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