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Weekly newsletter from Chairman, CBIC dated 09/06/2021

Last updated: 10 June 2021

 Notice Date : 09 June 2021

Government of India
Ministry of Finance
Department of Revenue
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs
North Block, New Delhi-110001
Tel. No. +91-11-23092849, Fax : +91-11-23092890
E-mail : ajit.m@gov.in

D.O.No. lnW/WF-1/Misc/6/2021-WLFR/2452-2501

Date: 09th June 2021

CBIC has lost a number of its serving officers and staff during the Covid pandemic, more so in the recent second wave, leaving their families, colleagues and indeed the entire organization, disconsolate and in a state of shock. We will always remember their valuable contribution, to the department and to the trade and industry, done in a spirit of service to the nation even during these challenging times.

2. Many of these deceased departmental officials were the sole breadwinners of their families. Their sudden and totally unexpected tragic departures have left families devastated and, often, facing financial issues. It is, therefore, incumbent on the Department in general, and the concerned Jurisdictional Pr.CCs/ Pr. DGs /CCs /DGs and HoD’s in particular to ensure that family pension and other entitlements in respect of the deceased employees are released to their respective families expeditiously. The matter should be actively and closely followed-up and monitored by them at every stage. This would help the early completion of the process for sanction of family pension and its disbursement through banks providing some measure of solace to the bereaved kin.

3. In this regard, you should circulate, and ensure compliance with, the instructions conveyed under the Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare vide OM No. 1/11/2020-P&PW (E) dated 29 July 2020. The sanction of provisional family pension by the Head of Office should be accorded immediately on receipt of a claim for family pension and death certificate from the eligible family member, without waiting for forwarding of the family pension case to the Pay & Accounts Office (PAO). Rule 80-A provides for payment of provisional death gratuity by the Head of Office once the family pension/death gratuity case has been forwarded to the PAO. Rule 80-A of the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 which provides for payment of provisional family pension and also provisional death gratuity, pending issue of the Pension Payment Order (PPO), should be strictly adhered to.

4. Please refer to my DO letter No.67/CH(IC)/2020 dated 10/05/2021, wherein I had mentioned that to avoid inconvenience to the family of the deceased official, it is important to designate one of the volunteers in the Commissionerate/ Directorate, preferably closely known to the family, to be in touch with them and do the needful for preparation of claims, obtaining death certificates, etc. Further, in case of families who have lost their sole bread-winner and are facing severe economic hardship, a complete application for compassionate appointment of a family member can also be obtained from the family and handed over to the office for due consideration.

5. In addition to ensuring the immediate commencement of the payment of provisional family pension, payment of provisional death gratuity may be made to the nominees/family members immediately. This should be done by the Head of Office on receipt of the claim from the eligible family member and after forwarding the case to the PAO. Simultaneously, action should be taken on priority basis for disbursement of regular family pension through the Bank and for payment of other entitlements of the family on death of the Government servant. It may be ensured that the PPO for pension purposes is issued and disbursement of regular family pension is commenced by the Bank not later than one month of the receipt of the claim for family pension.

6. I am attaching Annexure-I and II to the letter No. 1/11/2021-P & PW (E) dated 03rd June 2021 which lists the entitlements of family on death of a Government Servant during service both under the Old Pension Scheme and National Pension System for guidance and wide circulation among the officers and staff.

7. I have in my previous letters, expressed the appreciation of the Board of the tremendous work being done by many of our officers and staff in extending succor to their colleagues and their families facing the scourge of the pandemic. I am sure that, in the same spirit, you would ensure that the families of deceased colleagues are taken care of well in time in their hour of need.

Yours sincerely

(M. Ajit kumar)

To,

The Pr. Chief Commissioners/ Pr. Directors General (All)

The Chief Commissioners/ Directors General (A11)

Annexure- 1

ENTITLEMENTS OF FAMILY ON DEATH OF A GOVERNMENT SERVANT DURING SERVICE

(1) Entitlements of family on death of a Government servant under Old Pension Scheme

A. Family Pension :

Amount : 50% of last pay for a period of 10 years from the date following the date of death. Thereafter @ 30% of last pay.

(Enhanced family pension @50% of pay is payable for 10 years in all cases without reference to the length of service of the deceased employee, as per amended Rule 54(3))

Eligibility of family members: : Family pension will be paid to members of family in the following order: –

Sl. No. Eligible family member Conditions of eligibility
1 Spouse of the deceased Government servant For life or remarriage.
2 In the absence of spouse, unmarried dependent* son or unmarried dependent* daughter below the age of 25 years.

(Eldest child shall be eligible first. Other(s) will be eligible only after elder child becomes ineligible.)

Till

(i) attaining the age of 25 years or

(ii) marriage or

(iii) start earning livelihood, whichever is the earliest.

3 In the absence of (1) and (2) above, dependant** child suffering from a mental or physical disability For life or till starts earning livelihood.
4 In the absence of (1), (2) and (3) above, dependant*unmarried/widowed/divorced daughter (without age limit) (Eldest daughter shall be eligible first) Till

(i)marriage/ re-marriage or

(ii) starts earning livelihood, whichever is earlier

5 In the absence of (1), (2), (3) and (4) above, dependent* parents (Mother first) For life or till start earning livelihood
6 In the absence of (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5) above, dependent** sibling suffering from a mental or physical disability For life or till starts earning livelihood

*A child (other than a child suffering from a mental or physical disability) and parents shall be eligible, if their income from other sources is less than the minimum family pension (i.e. Rs. 9000/-p.m.) plus dearness relief thereon.

**A child or sibling suffering from a mental or physical disability shall be eligible if their overall income from other sources is less than the entitled family pension admissible on death of Government servant plus dearness relief thereon.

Documents required to be submitted by the claimant for family pension: (i) Application in Form 14, (ii) a copy of death certificate, (iii) proof of relationship, (iv) proof of date of birth, (v) copy of first page of the Pass Book, (vi) copy of PAN card. (vii) Specimen signature and (viii) PP size photographs

Action to be taken By HOO:

  • Sanction provisional family pension to eligible family member immediately on receipt of claim, without waiting for forwarding of case to PAO or authorisation by PAO. (Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare’s OM No. 1/11/2020-P&PW (E) dated 29th July, 2020)
  • Separately, process the case for family pension and death gratuity in Bhavishya and forward the case to PAO in Form 18 along with other documents for further processing/authorisation. (Rule 80)
  • Government dues such as HBA, licence fee, etc. are to be recovered from death gratuity.

B. Death Gratuity:

Length of qualifying service Rate of death gratuity
(i) Less than 1 year 2 times of emoluments.
(ii) One year or more but less than 5 years 6 times of emoluments.
(iii) 5 years or more but less than 11 years 12 times of emoluments.
(iv) 11 years or more but less than 20 years 20 times of emoluments
(iii) 20 years or more Half of emoluments for every completed six-monthly period of qualifying service subject to a maximum of 33 times of emoluments.

Maximum amount of death gratuity : Rs. 20 lakh.

Eligibility:

  • Gratuity is to be paid to the family member(s)/person(s) in whose favour a valid nomination exists. If there are more than one nominee, amount of gratuity shall be shared by all nominees as specified in the nomination.
  • If a nominee has pre-deceased the Government servant, then the gratuity is to be paid to the alternate nominee(s), if any, mentioned in the nomination form.
  • If there is no nomination or the nomination made does not subsist, the amount of gratuity is to be equally shared among spouse, son(s), unmarried daughter(s) and widowed daughter(s).
  • If none of these family members is available, the amount of gratuity is to be equally divided among other family members, i.e. father, mother, married daughters, brothers below 18 years, unmarried/widowed sisters and children of a pre-deceased son.
  • Succession certificate is not to be asked for unless there is no valid nomination and also none of the family members mentioned above is available.

Documents required to be submitted by the claimant for gratuity : (i) Application in Form 12, (ii) Death certificate, (iii) copy of PAN card, (iv)copy of first page of bank pass book and (v) proof of relationship.

Action By HOO:

  • Process the case for death gratuity (along with family pension) in Bhavishya and forward the case to PAO in Form 18 along with other documents for further processing/authorisation.
  • Sanction provisional death gratuity in accordance with Rule 80-A, after forwarding the case to PAO

C. Cash equivalent of leave salary (Leave Encashment)

As per Rule 39-A of CCS (Leave) Rules, 1972, cash equivalent of leave salary for earned leave not exceeding 300 days is payable to the family. If the earned leave in the credit of the deceased Government servant is less than 300 days, half pay leave is encashed to the extent the earned leave is short of 300 days.

Eligibility : One of the available family members in this order -> Spouse, eldest surviving son, eldest surviving unmarried daughter, eldest surviving widowed daughter, father/mother, eldest surviving married daughter, eldest surviving brother below the age of eighteen years, eldest surviving unmarried sister, eldest surviving widowed sister; eldest child of the eldest predeceased son.

Leave encashment is processed/sanctioned by HOO on receipt of death certificate without seeking any application for this purpose.

D. Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS)

Amount : In addition to the amount standing in the Savings Fund of CGEGIS, an amount of Rs. 1,20,000, Rs. 60,000/- and Rs. 30000/- is paid to the family of the deceased employee belonging to Group A, Group B and Group C, respectively.

Eligibility of family members:

  • CGEGIS amount is payable to family member(s)/person(s) in whose favour a valid nomination exists.
  • In the absence of a nomination, the amount is paid to the family members eligible as per the rules applicable for payment of death gratuity.
  • The claim for CGEGIS is processed/sanctioned on receipt of death certificate without seeking any application for this purpose.

E. General Provident Fund (GPF)

  • On receipt of the death certificate, the balance in the GPF account of the deceased Government is sanctioned to the family member(s)/person(s) in whose favour a valid nomination exists. In the absence of a nomination, GPF balance is paid to the family members eligible as per GPF Rules.
  • As per the Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme under Rule 33-B of the GPF Rules, in addition to the GPF balance, an additional amount equal to the average balance in the GPF account during the 3 years immediately preceding the death of the Government is also paid, subject to the conditions that the balance at the credit did not, at any time during the three years preceding the month of death, fall below the limits mentioned in Rule 33-B.
  • The additional amount to be paid shall not exceed Rs. 60,000/-.
  • The claims for GPF/DLIS are to be processed/sanctioned by the office on receipt of death certificate.

Annexure-II

(1) Entitlements of family on death of a Government servant under National Pension System who had opted for benefits under Old Pension Scheme or in whose case, no option was exercised and the default option is Old Pension Scheme

  • Family Pension : Same as under Old Pension Scheme.

In addition, employee’s contributions and returns thereon in the NPS pension Corpus shall also be paid to the family member. HOO will start process to sanction family pension and simultaneously close PRAN under NPS and Government contribution (and returns thereon) would be transferred into the Government account. Remaining amount would be paid in lump sum to the nominee or legal heir as per PFRDA regulations.

  • Death Gratuity : Same as under Old Pension Scheme
  • Cash equivalent of leave salary (Leave Encashment) : Same as under Old Pension Scheme
  • Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS) : Same as under Old Pension Scheme

(2) Entitlements of family on death of a Government servant under National Pension System:

(i) who had specifically opted for benefits under NPS based on accumulated pension corpus or

(ii) who had opted for Old Pension Scheme or in whose case default option is Old Pension Scheme but there is no family member eligible for family pension under Old Pension Scheme

  • Benefits based on NPS Corpus: Concerned office would take action to close PRAN under NPS of the deceased Government servant and grant benefits of lump sum (maximum 20% of accumulated pension wealth) and annuity from the remaining pension wealth to the eligible family member from annuity service provider registered with PFRDA, in accordance with PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under NPS) Regulations, 2015
  • Death Gratuity : Same as under Old Pension Scheme
  • Cash equivalent of leave salary (Leave Encashment) : Same as under Old Pension Scheme
  • Central Government Employees Group Insurance Scheme (CGEGIS) : Same as under Old Pension Scheme.
 

Guest
Notification No : D.O.No. lnW/WF-1/Misc/6/2021-WLFR/2452-2501
Published in Custom




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