Why are Govt pension cases delayed? Finance Ministry finds six reasons, suggests a fix

The Finance Ministry has identified six reasons why there is a delay in the finalisation of many pension cases in various Government departments. It has also asked departments to fix the delays.

In an office memorandum dated June 24, 2025, the Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Department of Expenditure (DoE) under the Ministry of Finance, said the office of CGA/CPAO (Central Pension Accounting Office) has been closely monitoring delays in processing/finalising pension cases. They also made efforts to identify and clear the bottlenecks in processing as well as the disbursement of pensions.

According to the memorandum, the following six reasons are to be blamed for the delay in finalising pension cases:

1. Wrong fixation of pay on promotions, Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU), Modified Assured Career Progression (MACP) etc.

2. Non-adherence of para 2.16.3 of Civil Accounts Manual (CAM), 2024 regarding audit of pay fixation orders within three months of issuance of orders and in case the employee due to retire within next four years, audit in such cases to be done on priority.

3. Non-verification of service records as per prescribed timelines mentioned in Central Civil Services (CCS) (Pension) Rules, 2021.

4. Delay in furnishing of vigilance clearance certificate for processing of pension cases.

5. Peculiarities in different departments, specifically CAPFs (Central Armed Police Forces) in MHA (Ministry of Home Affairs, Jal Shakti, UD (Urban Development) and some other departments spread out in remote areas, leading to a delay in the processing of pension cases.

6. Inadequate knowledge of rules on the part of the prospective retirees leads to a delay in the filing of their pension papers in time.

Through the Office Memorandum, the CGA has instructed all heads of offices to ensure timelines are followed. They have also been asked to ensure correctness in pay fixation.

"In view of the above, all the Head of Offices must ensure maintaining the timelines right from initiation of pension cases till its finalization and disbursement. Moreover, Head of offices/PAOs must ensure correctness in pay fixation followed by mandatory audit in terms of DOPT's OM dated 03.10.2022," the Office Memorandum said.