PremiumThe Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021 allows Central Civil Services employees who died while working for the government to receive benefits under the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). This option is also available in the event that the employee is discharged from employment due to invalidation or disability. The Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021 have been notified to govern service-related matters of Central Government civil employees covered by the National Pension System, according to a notification from the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) published on October 26.
“Rule 10 of these rules deals with option to be exercised by every Central Government employee covered under National Pension System for availing benefits under National Pension System or old pension scheme in the event of death of Government servant during service or his discharge on the ground of invalidation or disablement," DoPPW said.
"In accordance with rule 10 of the Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021, every Government servant covered under the National Pension System shall, at the time of joining Government service, exercise an option in Form 1 for availing benefits under the National Pension System or under the Central Civil Service (Pension) Rules or the Central Civil Service (Extraordinary Pension) Rules in the event of his death or boarding out on account of disablement or retirement on invalidation. Government servants, who are already in Government service and are covered by the National Pension System, shall also exercise such option, said DoPPW in a statement.
By selecting the relevant option on Form 1 and sending the forms (Form 1 and Form 2) to the head of the office, a central government employee who is covered by the National Pension System (NPS) can choose between the benefits offered through NPS and those provided under the Central Civil Service (Pension) Rules or the Central Civil Service (Extraordinary Pension) Rules.
DoPPW said “Every Government servant shall, along with the option in Form 1, also submit details of family in Form 2 to the Head of Office. The Head of Office shall, on receipt of the Form 2, acknowledge receipt of the Form 2 and all further communications received from the Government servant in this behalf, countersign it indicating the date of receipt and get it pasted on the service book of the Government servant concerned. The Head of Office on receipt of communication from the Government servant regarding any change in the size of family shall also incorporate such a change in Form 2."
“The option shall be exercised to the Head of Office who will accept the same after verifying all the facts submitted therein and place it in the service book. A copy of the option shall be forwarded by the Head of Office to the Central Recordkeeping Agency through the Drawing and Disbursing Officer and the Pay and Accounts Officer for their record. The Pay and Accounts Officer shall also make suitable entry in the online system indicating the details regarding the option exercised by the Government servant," said DoPPW in a statement.
As per DoPPW, the option exercised may be revised at any number of times by the Subscriber before his retirement by making a fresh option intimating his revised option to the Head of Office. On receipt of the revised option, the Head of Office and the Pay and Accounts Officer shall take further action as mentioned above.
DoPPW said in a statement that “A Subscriber who is discharged on invalidation or disability shall be given an opportunity to submit a fresh option at the time of such discharge. Where such Subscriber does not exercise a fresh option or is not in a position to exercise fresh option at the time of discharge, the option already exercised by the Subscriber shall become operative."
“In the case of death of a Subscriber while in service, the last option exercised by the deceased Subscriber before his death shall be treated as final and the family shall have no right to revise the option," said DoPPW.
DoPPW said “Where a Subscriber who did not exercise an option and dies before completion of service of fifteen years or within three years of the notification of Central Civil Services (Implementation of National Pension System) Rules, 2021, his family will be granted family pension in accordance with the provisions of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules or the Central Civil Services (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, as the case may be, as a default option."
DoPPW said “Where a Subscriber is discharged from Government service on invalidation or disability before completion of service of fifteen years or within three years of the notification of these rules without exercising an option, and is also not in a position to exercise an option at the time of discharge, he will be granted invalid pens ion or disability pension in accordance with the provisions of the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules or the Central Civil Services (Extraordinary Pension) Rules as the case may be, as default option."
DoPPW said “In all other cases, where no option was exercised by the Subscriber, the claim of the Subscriber on discharge from the service and that of the family on death of the Subscriber, shall be regulated in accordance with the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Exits and Withdrawals under National Pension System) Regulations, 2015, as default option."
“In cases where the option exercised by the deceased Subscriber or the default option for benefit under the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules or the Central Civil Services (Extraordinary Pension) Rules becomes infructuous on account of non¬availability of an eligible member of the family for grant of family pension under the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules or the Central Civil Services (Extraordinary Pension) Rules, such option would be deemed to have become invalid and the benefits admissible under the National Pension System shall be granted to the legal heir(s) of the employee in accordance with the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Exits and Withdrawals under National Pension System) Regulations, 2015," said DoPPW.