Pensioners urged to adopt digital life certificates under nationwide campaign

The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare has urged pensioners to adopt digital life certificates during its nationwide campaign across India. The initiative uses face authentication to simplify submissions, while doorstep services are available for pensioners unable to visit camps

New Delhi: The secretary of the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare (DoPPW) on Tuesday urged pensioners to become ambassadors of digital empowerment by opting for digital life certificates (DLCs).

Pensioners are required to submit a life certificate every year to continue receiving their pension. The process can be completed digitally through Jeevan Pramaan, a biometric-enabled service.

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Addressing an event here, DoPPW Secretary Nivedita Shukla Verma said pensioners remain at the centre of the department’s initiatives and that the success of the DLC campaign depends on reaching every pensioner, including those living in remote areas.

She encouraged pensioners to share their experiences and motivate fellow pensioners to adopt face-authentication technology, according to a statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.

Highlighting the convenience of the initiative, Verma said pensioners can generate DLCs from home using smartphones, without depending on others or visiting bank branches.

She was speaking at a mega camp organised by the DoPPW in collaboration with Punjab National Bank (PNB) at its Parliament Street branch here under the nationwide DLC Campaign 5.

The campaign is being conducted across 2,000 cities and districts in India from November 1 to 30. It aims to help pensioners and family pensioners submit digital life certificates through face-authentication technology and raise awareness about the convenience of digital services.

Verma appreciated the participation and contribution of senior pensioners, noting that more than 14 lakh pensioners aged 80 years and above had submitted their DLCs during the previous campaign.

Dhrubajyoti Sengupta, Joint Secretary of the DoPPW, said DLC services had evolved significantly since their introduction in 2014, with face-authentication technology introduced in 2021, making the process more accessible and convenient.

He said the number of certificates generated through face authentication had increased from around 50 lakh to approximately 1.25 crore during the previous campaign. For pensioners unable to visit camps or complete the process independently, doorstep services are available through banks and post offices, the statement said.

The PNB mega camp also enabled interactions with senior pensioners and provided access to a medical camp alongside the DLC services.

The initiative reaffirmed the DoPPW’s commitment to promoting accessible, secure and pensioner-centric digital services, the statement added.