Pension department opens its fifth nationwide drive for digital life certificates
3 November 2026
The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare has begun its fifth nationwide campaign for digital life certificates.
A pensioner must show every year that he or she is alive before the pension continues, and the digital certificate replaces a visit to the bank with a check done on a smartphone.
Face authentication, brought in during 2021, lets a pensioner complete the process at home without depending on anyone else.
A large camp was held at the Punjab National Bank branch on Sansad Marg in New Delhi, with a talk with senior pensioners and a medical camp alongside.
In the previous campaign more than 14 lakh pensioners aged 80 and above filed their certificates this way.
Certificates filed through face authentication rose from 50 lakh to about 1.25 crore.
For those who cannot reach a camp, banks and post offices provide the service at home.
Digital life certificates have been accepted since 2014.
In plain words
DLC Digital Life Certificate — The electronic proof of being alive that a pensioner files each year.
DoPPW Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare — The nodal department for central civil pensioners, under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.