Effective pension management is a commitment of the Govt of India which is now over 4 decades old. Millions of Indians especially workers in the unorganised sector rely on social security pensions as their sole means of livelihood during retirement. As per data from EPFO more than 13 million workers benefit from EPS’95 pension which is a matter of concern given the demographic picture of India and an ageing society. To claim the pension members over 60 must file a life certificate (LC) each financial year to affirm that they are alive. Previously pensioners would have to visit the local post office or bank to submit a physical life certificate. Recently EPFO in partnership with India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) launched a service to provide free of cost doorstep delivery of electronic life certificates. How does it matter? The service will provide Aadhaar-based biometric authentication services such as face capture or fingerprint to pensioners at their doorstep. An electronic life certificate (ELC) will be generated online without any cost to pensioners. They will also receive an SMS notification on successful generation of the certificate. The move provides pensioners under EPS ’95 the option of procuring life certificates at their doorstep through their postman Gramin Dak Sevak (GDS) or at the nearest post office. Business & governance impact Operational efficiency: There will be manual verification paperwork and on-site footfall for EPFO. Automating verification with digital authentication will save time. Digital automation also helps in taking humans away from repetitive tasks to allow focus on other aspects of the business. Cost reduction: No cost to pensioners for life certificate EPFO partners bear cost. No charges for IPPB/non-IPPB customers. Inclusion and convenience: Hardships of travel and paperwork to claim pension and life certificates especially for those pensioners from far-off rural or remote regions will be resolved. Digitalisation and trust: Further pushes the government’s digital initiatives in public services and showcases a system that is used to authenticate the pensioner’s identity with the use of Aaadhaar-based biometric technology. It will also help in the brand building of IPPB and Postal network to create a perception beyond mail services to also provide banking and fintech services. Risk mitigation: Eliminates delays loss fraud or non-compliance risk thereby reducing risks associated with pension disbursements. Numbers/Scope and Implementation There is no clarity on the extent of EPS pensioners covered under the scheme in the first phase. It has the potential to scale to all EPS ‘95 pensioners across India. Since a significant population of them is located in the rural and semi-urban areas the Postal network with the IPPB coverage is best poised to have such mass scale. The e-certificate will be published online through the Jeevan Pramaan portal the pensioners will be able to view their Pramaan ID and certificate status once the process is complete. Pensioners need to mandatorily submit Aadhaar number mobile number and existing pension details (PPO number account number etc). Impacts: Pensioners: With the launch of the service pensioners can receive the life certificate at their doorstep. The online delivery of digital certificates and removal of the paper-based method will increase customer comfort especially among the elderly or disabled. EPFO/Government: A large stride taken by the Indian government to eliminate red tape save costs and improve pension disbursement efficiency. IPPB / Postal network: A successful implementation with these customers is an opportunity for IPPB to show how the Postal banking network can support government-backed fintech services. Potentially the door will be open to provide similar services with other such services. Banks/disbursing agencies: With the removal of the paper-based LCs and shifting to online-based LCs the onus to capture and process these LCs is shifted upstream to EPFO/IPPB. Whats Next: Awareness: Pensioners should be aware of the services provided at their doorstep and that they can call the postman or post office to claim these. Biometric linkage: The biometric authentication of Aadhaar should work at the doorstep. There can be a connectivity challenge in certain rural areas. The Aadhaar authentication should be reliable across customers. Uptake and service quality: The authorities need to track how many pensioners are opting for the new online system and the service being provided by the postman or other officials. Is the service taking more than a day or two? Scale and coverage: The service’s nationwide rollout should be smooth with no problems after initial teething issues with staff or technical infrastructure. Pension portability: Integration with other government pensions state-run pensions EPFO & EPS’95: The service can be extended to other pensioners. Conclusion EPFO and India Post Payments Bank have started delivering an electronic life certificate at doorstep a move which will benefit pensioners under Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 (EPS ’95) who would otherwise have to submit a physical copy of the life certificate at a bank branch or an EPFO office. The pensioner can now simply get a pensioner to their doorstep for the purpose of issuing a digital life certificate. This is a welcome step to enable pensioners to move away from the physical paper-based method and increase comfort in obtaining these services.