For the employees of the country demanding the old pension scheme (OPS) will receive a great gift from the government. Tournament on NPS has been going on for two decades, with the latter demanding the restoration of the old pension scheme. Now the government has ordered to provide facilities like the old pension scheme to the new pension scheme. The instruction from the Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) is to all concerned officers about operating NPS pension cases in the same way as old pension scheme (OPS).
Earlier, on 18 December 2023, the CPAO had issued guidelines for the timely disbursement of pensions to retired employees under the National Pension System (NPS). The Office Memorandum (OM) dated March 12 has urged the Pay and Accounts Offices (PAOs) to comply with the order. The CPAO noted that in some cases PAOs are submitting three copies while submitting NPS cases. As per the new instructions, they should submit only two copies. One of the pensioner and the other of the distributor. Cause the unnecessary delay in the distribution of pension amounts.
What Defects Had Been Found?
According to the CPAO, it has been observed that some PAOs have not followed the guidelines in the manner of submission for NPS cases as OPS cases. It has been observed that particularly the PAOs have submitted three copies of Provisional PPOs while submitting cases of NPS as OPS cases, whereas only two copies of the cases along with PPO booklets should be submitted to CPAO. The Authority has urged the CCAs and CAs to strictly follow the updated guidelines.
Instructions Were Also Given To The Banks.
In terms of this order, therefore, the Authority has requested all Chief CCAs/CCAs/CAs/AGs to instruct the PAOs under their control to strictly follow the said guidelines as directed in the previous OM issued by the CPAO on 18.12.2023. In similar lines, all CPPCs of authorized banks have also been directed to carefully read the OM as issued by this office and any subsequent orders in this regard.
What Is The New Rule Of NPS?
According to the new rules of CPAO, the pension process of employees retiring under NPS will be made similar to that of the OPS. It aims to fast track and make transparent the distribution of pensions. This will enable NPS beneficiaries to receive their pensions timely and without a hassle. At present, employees have very long waiting periods for receipt of their NPS money as the matter is linked directly to PFRDA and Fund House both being market-linked. This is the reason why there is a focus on providing the facility like OPS by simplifying withdrawal rules from NPS.
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