Over 1 crore individuals use digital life certificates for pension

According to official statistics, about 10.05 million individuals, including private citizens and former central government employees, use digital life certificates to request pension payments. An estimated 6.8 million people in the nation receive government pensions.

An official who spoke on the record said, "The digital life certificate works for every account that is Aadhaar-seeded." "The individual can purchase a biometric authentication gadget that can be connected to a laptop or phone to generate the certificate. As a result, there is no longer a requirement for repeated certificate validations.

The government began highlighting the benefits of the digital life certificate in 2017. It was first introduced in 2014. Since then, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, it has evolved into a more convenient choice for retirees.

2.4 million of the 10 million people who have registered for a digital life certificate are government pensioners. 491,000 of them are retirees from the central government, while 1.1 million are from the military forces. Nearly 300,000 work for the railroads, and over 200,000 for the postal service.

There are 6.8 million pensioners in the central government overall, including those in the civil, military, and railroad sectors. The bank receives the digital life certificate after it has been authenticated by India's Unique Identification Authority. Although the programme was initially launched for central government seniors, it is now also utilised by private individuals.

The banks that distribute the pensions receive the validated certificates directly.

To reduce delays and fix systemic gaps, the government has been striving to modernise the pension system. Railway pensioners have most recently been included in the central department. With the government's approval, railway officials will be subject to the same pension regulations that apply to all former central government employees.