Centre issues new guidelines to check delay in pensions

 An employee can now send an undertaking directly to the bank to ensure quick disbursal of Pension in his or her account, according to the new guidelines by the government.“The government has decided that the requisite undertaking may be obtained by the head of office from the retiring employee and forwarded to the pension disbursing bank along with the Pension Payment Order (PPO),” the Ministry of Personnel said in a release issued today.The bank shall credit the pension to the account of the pensioner as soon as this undertaking is received along with the pension documents, it said.“This change in procedure has an added advantage that the PPO can now be handed over in person to the retiring employee along with other retirement dues. Earlier the pensioner had to approach the bank for PPO,” the Ministry said. With this change in rules and procedures, the pensioners would be saved of considerable inconvenience and delay and the pension will commence as soon as one retires, the release added. The matter of delay in pension had come up for discussion during a workshop held here with the pension secretaries of various state governments on Thursday. The delegates had pointed out during the course of deliberations that the release of pension after retirement gets delayed mainly due to two reasons.Primarily, the delay in receipt of intimation by the pensioner that pension papers have reached the bank and secondly, delay on the part of pensioner in approaching the bank for submission of undertaking that he shall refund any amount paid to him to which he is not entitled. Following which, the new guidelines were issued.There are about 50 lakh central government employees and 30 lakh pensioners