EPFO rolls out free doorstep Digital Life Certificate service through IPPB for EPS pensioners

To promote ease of living for EPS pensioners, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has launched a free doorstep Digital Life Certificate (DLC) service through India Post Payments Bank (IPPB). The doorstep service for DLC was launched back in 2020 to assist pensioners.

What is doorstep DLC service?

In recent times, the EPFO has been promoting the submission of DLC (Jeevan Pramaan) through Face Authentication Technology (FAT) so that pensioners can easily submit their DLCs from the comfort of their homes using smartphones.

However, some pensioners do not have access to smartphones and may not even be able to visit banks or EPFO offices to submit their DLCs. For such pensioners, EPFO has entered into an agreement with the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to provide this service at the doorstep. 

How does this service work?

Under this service, Postmen/Daksevaks visit pensioners whose DLC is due at their doorstep and register their DLC. This service is now totally free for the pensioners as charges shall be centrally paid by CPPRC, EPFO, as per SoP, for successful DLCs only, the EPFO said in a release on January 9, 2025. 

What is a successful DLC?

A DLC is considered successful when:

• It is done by IPPB.
• It is due or about to be due within 30 days.
• It is approved by the EPFO after verification of the pensioner's details (either automatically or manually).

Can pensioners request a home visit?

Yes, pensioners can request a home visit by contacting IPPB’s customer support at 033-22029000. While pensioners can request the doorstep service through any IPPB channel, Postmen and DakSevaks are also required to approach pensioners whose DLC is pending as per the EPFO list.

Free Doorstep DLC: Key things to know

Postmen and DakSevaks shall: 

• Ensure that DLC is due, and verify that the name and date of birth in the Pension Payment Order (PPO) and Aadhaar match before initiating DLC generation.

• Register DLC using FAT. If FAT fails, registration may be attempted using biometric authentication through the Jeevan Pramaan application.

• Guide pensioners regarding FAT and DLC generation for future self-generation.

• If the pensioner has passed away, DakSevaks shall record their death and date of birth.

• No charges shall be collected from the pensioners. 

The EPFO has asked all zonal offices to monitor the compliance of the instructions issued in the field offices and review the pending DLCs, along with tracking the progress. It has also asked regional offices to educate and guide pensioners to submit DLC themselves through smartphones using FAT on JeevanPramaan or UMANG App. 

“If any pensioner expresses difficulty in submitting DLC himself or is unable to visit Banks/EPFO Offices, such pensioner or his family may be guided to avail free DLC facility at his home through Postman/Daksevak,” the EPFO said. 

According to the release, cases where DLC has been pending for over five years will be given top priority. 

“Top priority shall be given to cases where the DLC has been pending for more than five years. Thereafter, the list of pensioners whose DLC has been pending for two to five years may be acted upon. The endeavour should be to update all long-pending DLC cases by March 2026,” the regulator said. 

If the death of a pensioner is reported, prompt action shall be taken to start the pension of the next beneficiary. In cases where there is no further beneficiary, the PPO shall be marked as permanently closed, the release said.

The EPFO has asked its offices to complete the action points at the earliest so that the pensioners whose DLCs remain pending for years can avail themselves of the free doorstep service.