NPS to OPS migration rules revised: What pensioners and families need to know about death, disability cases

In an Office Memorandum dated October 19, 2026, the CPAO said the revised Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was introduced to address difficulties faced during the migration process. The revised procedure, approved by the Office of the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), aims to “ease and facilitate this process”.

The new SOP replaces the earlier procedure issued on September 17, 2025. The CPAO has directed all concerned offices and officials to implement the revised procedure and ensure “strict and time bound compliance”.

NPS to OPS migration: How will pension cases be processed?

Under the revised SOP, provisional pension and family pension payments in eligible cases will be regularised by issuing new Pension Payment Orders (PPOs) under the Central Civil Services (Implementation of NPS) Rules, 2021.

The CPAO will start the process by sending scanned copies of existing provisional PPOs (PPPOs) to the concerned Pay and Accounts Office (PAO). It will also provide a utility to help PAOs generate new PPO numbers.

The PAO will then obtain the employee’s Service Book and other required documents from the Head of Office (HoO). The HoO must forward these records along with a letter certifying that the provisional pension or family pension will be regularised under the applicable rules.

After checking the records, the PAO will prepare a new PPO against each existing PPPO. The new document must carry both the old PPPO number and the employee’s Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN).

What Will the CPAO and banks have to do?

Once the new PPO is prepared, the PAO will send it, along with the Special Seal Authority (SSA), to the CPAO for verification.

The CPAO will check the details against its existing records before forwarding the new PPO, SSA, Last Pay Certificate and other supporting documents to the concerned Centralised Pension Processing Centre (CPPC) of the authorised bank.

After receiving the documents, the CPPC will process the case and begin pension disbursement from the date specified by the CPAO. It must ensure that pension payments continue without interruption while preventing duplicate payments during the transition.

The revised SOP specifically directs the CPPC to ensure that “no double payment occurs during the transition process”.

Once the new PPO has been issued and the old PPPO records have been returned through the prescribed process, the CPAO will ensure that the relevant records are updated, including details of the last pension payment.

What happens if the old pension order is lost?

The revised SOP also covers cases in which the pensioner's portion or the bank's portion of the old PPPO is lost. If either or both portions are missing, the CPPC must submit a Lost Certificate to the CPAO.

The CPAO will then send the available old PPPO records, including the original disburser portion held by it, to the concerned PAO after ensuring that the records and last pension payment details have been updated.

What must pensioners and family pensioners do?

After receiving the new PPO booklet, the Pension Account Handling Branch (PAHB) will hand it over to the pensioner or family pensioner and collect the old PPPO.

The revised SOP sets out the responsibilities of the CPAO, PAOs, Heads of Office, pension-processing centres, banks and pensioners to ensure that eligible cases are migrated smoothly and pension and family pension payments continue without disruption.