Family pension and gratuity under Central Civil Services Pension Rules 2021

Family pension and gratuity under Central Civil Services Pension Rules 2021: Determination and authorisation of the amounts of family pension and gratuity in respect of a Government servant who dies or goes missing while in service

CHAPTER XI

Determination and authorisation of the amounts of family pension and gratuity in respect of a Government servant who dies or goes missing while in service

71. Obtaining of claims for family pension and gratuity.- (1) Where the Head of Office has received an intimation or information about the death of a Government servant while in service, he shall ascertain whether any death gratuity or family pension or both is or are payable in respect of the deceased Government servant.

(2)(a) Where the family of the deceased Government servant is eligible for the death gratuity under rule 45, the Head of Office shall ascertain,

(i) if the deceased Government servant had nominated any person or persons to receive the gratuity; and

(ii) if the deceased Government servant had not made any nomination or the nomination made does not subsist, the person or persons to whom the gratuity may be payable.

(b) The Head of Office shall, then, address the persons concerned in Format 11 and send the letters to those persons for making a claim for gratuity in Form 9.

(3) Where the family of the deceased Government servant is eligible for family pension under rule 50, the Head of Office shall address the eligible member of the family or the guardian, as the case may be, in Format 12 for making a claim for family pension in Form 10 and to submit an undertaking to the Bank in Format 9.

(4)(a) If on the date of death, the Government servant was an allottee of Government accommodation, the dues pertaining to outstanding licence fee payable in respect of the period before the date of death of the Government servant shall stand waived off.

(b) Any dues relating to damages in respect of the Government accommodation shall be recovered from the death gratuity payable to the family and if the Government accommodation is retained by the family of the deceased Government servant, the licence fee for the month in which the Government servant has died and the first three months thereafter, shall not be recovered from the family.

(c) The Head of Office shall address the Directorate of Estates within seven days of the date of receipt of intimation or information of death of a Government servant for the issue of “No Demand Certificate” in accordance with the provisions of sub-rule (1) of rule 77.

(5) Where the Head of Office has received an intimation that a Government servant has gone missing, he shall ascertain whether any gratuity or family pension or both is or are payable in respect of the missing Government servant in accordance with sub-rule (1) of rule 51 and sub-rule (4) of rule 51.

(6)(a) In the case of a missing Government servant, the Head of Office shall take action in accordance with sub-rule (2) and sub-rule (3) in respect of the missing Government servant and shall address the member of the family eligible to receive the amount of gratuity in Format 11 advising him or her for making a claim for gratuity in Form 9.

(b) The Head of Office shall also address the eligible member of the family or the guardian, as the case may be, in Format 12 for making a claim for family pension in Form 10.

(c) The Head of office shall inform the eligible members of the family that claims for payment of family pension and gratuity shall be submitted to the Head of Office after a report has been lodged with the concerned Police Station in the form of a First Information Report or a Daily Diary Entry or a General Diary Entry and a report has been obtained from the police to the effect that the Government servant could not be traced so far despite all efforts made in that regard.

(d) The claims shall be accompanied by an undertaking to the Bank in Format 9, an Indemnity Bond in Format 8, a copy each of the report lodged with the concerned Police Station and a copy of the report obtained from the police to the effect that the Government servant could not be traced so far despite all efforts made in that regard.

(e) The Head of Office shall not wait for a death certificate issued by an appropriate authority and shall initiate action under this rule on receipt of an intimation or a credible information, in any form, about the death of the Government servant.

(f) The Head of Office shall make special efforts to get the claims from the family of the deceased Government servant in the respective forms as early as possible and where the family is residing in the place of duty of the deceased Government servant, the forms and documents may be got completed by the family personally and if the family is residing outside the place of duty, all the blank forms and other documents should be forwarded to the family with clear instructions, so as to avoid unnecessary correspondence and consequent delay.

(g) In order to decide the eligibility for family pension, a member of the family, other than the widow or widower of the deceased Government servant or pensioner, shall be required to submit, along with the claim for family pension, the documents referred to in the clause (b) of sub-rule (12) of rule 50.

72. Verification of service and emoluments for family pension and gratuity.- (1)(a) The Head of Office shall go through the service book of the deceased or missing Government servant and satisfy himself as to whether certificates of verification of service for the entire service are recorded therein.

(b)(i) If there are any periods of unverified service, the Head of Office shall accept the unverified portion of service as verified on the basis of the available entries in the service book;

(ii) the Head of Office may rely on any other relevant material to which he may have ready access;

(iii) while accepting the unverified portion of service, the Head of Office shall ensure that service was continuous and was not forfeited on account of dismissal, removal or resignation from service, or for participation in strike.

(2)(a) For the purpose of determination of emoluments for family pension and gratuity, the Head of Office shall confine the verification of the correctness of emoluments for a maximum period of one year preceding the date of death or disappearance of the Government servant.

(b) In case the Government servant was on extraordinary leave on the date of death or disappearance, the correctness of the emoluments for a maximum period of one year which he drew preceding the date of the commencement of the extraordinary leave shall be verified.

(3) The process of determination of qualifying service and qualifying emoluments shall be completed within one month of the receipt of intimation or information regarding the death of the Government servant or within one month of the receipt of intimation regarding disappearance of the Government servant, as the case may be.

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