Mumbai, January 23: The Ministry for Labour and Employment recently said that the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) completed full-scale roll out of its Centralised Pension Payments System (CPPS) across all its disbursing offices. The roll out of CPPS is aimed to ease pension disbursement process for members of Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS). It must be noted that the roll out of CPPS at all EPFO offices across the country marks a shift from the existing pension disbursement system.

The existing pension disbursement was decentralized, with each zonal/ regional office of the EPFO maintaining separate agreements with only three to four banks. Under Centralised Pension Payments System (CPPS), members of Employees’ Pension Scheme will be able to take their pension from any bank. Pensioners will also not be required to visit bank for any verification at the time of commencement of pension. EPFO Membership Rises: Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation Announces Net Addition of 14.63 Lakh Members in November 2024 Amid Growing Employment.

CPPS also allows pension to be immediately credited upon its release. The Ministry also said that about INR 1,570 crore was disbursed as the pension amount to over 68 lakh pensioners pertaining to all the 122 pension disbursing regional offices of EPFO for December 2024. The successful rollout of CPPS system will ensure disbursement of pensions throughout India from January 2025.

Key Highlights of Centralised Pension Payment System:

  • Regional offices of EPFO will process pension claims with any bank account, thus eliminating the need for transferring Pension Payment Orders (PPOs) between offices based on branch location.

  • Pensioners can use the same bank account linked to their Universal Account Number (UAN) for Provident Fun claims.

  • PPOs will be sent directly to the pensioners and not to bank branches for claims processed under the CPPS system.

  • The Aadhaar details of pensioners must be seeded into the system for all beneficiaries before pension disbursement. This will help in simplifying future processes including submission of the Digital Life Certificate.

This means, there won't be any need for transfer of Pension Payment Orders (PPO) from one office to another even if the pensioner moves from one location to another or changes his bank or branch. This move will bring great relief to pensioners who move to their hometown after retiring. Speaking about the successful rollout, Union Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya said, "This transformative initiative empowers pensioners to access their pension seamlessly from any bank, any branch, anywhere in the country. It eliminates the need for physical verification visits and simplifies the pension disbursement process." EPFO ATM Card, Mobile App: From EPFO 3.0 Launch Date to Withdrawal Limits, Here’s All You Need To Know.

Before its full-scale roll out nationwide, the first pilot of the Centralised Pension Payments System was successfully completed in October 2024 in Jammu, Karnal and Srinagar Regional Offices. Back then, pension of about INR 11 crore was successfully disbursed to more than 49,000 EPS Pensioners. The second pilot was conducted at 24 Regional Office in November 2024 during which around INR 213 crore pension was disbursed to more than 9.3 lakh pensioners.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 23, 2025 08:55 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).