Provision of submitting details of Family Members and making Nomination in LIC of India (Employees) Pension Rules, 1995

 Provision of submitting details of Family Members and making Nomination in LIC of India (Employees) Pension Rules, 1995  

While submitting the compliance of Supreme Court interim order dated Nov. 2017, LIC of India informed the court vide its affidavit dated 15/02/2020 that in the case of 221 eligible beneficiaries, payment could not be made due to death of both – the Regular Pensioner and the Family Pensioner and non-availability of records. 

There may be the occasions when pensionary benefit would be payable as arrears (like lump sum ex-gratia payment, arrears of pension revision, etc.). So, if the amount which may have been already due to the pensioner or the family pensioner but not paid till his/her death, it is payable to the nominee nominated by the Pensioner/Family Pensioner. Our Pension Rules provide for such nomination. Relevant provisions are as under:

Provision of Nomination in LIC of India (Employees) Pension Rules, 1995

Rule 51 of LIC of India (Employees) Pension Rules, 1995 under the caption ‘Nomination’ reads as follows: 

“(1) The trust shall allow every employee governed by these rules to make a nomination conferring on one or more persons the right to receive the amount of pensionary benefits under these rules in the event of his death before that amount becomes payable or, having become payable, has not been paid. Such nomination shall be made in such form as may be specified by the Corporation from time to time.

(2) If any employee nominates more than one person under sub-rule (1), he shall, in his nomination, specify the amount or share payable to each of the nominees in such a manner as to cover the whole of the amount of the pensionary benefits that may be payable in the event of his death.

(3) A nomination made by an employee may, at any time, be modified or revoked by him after giving a written notice to the trust of his intention of doing so in such form as the Corporation may from time to time specify.

(4) A nomination or its revocation or its modification shall take effect to the extent it is valid on the date on which it is received by the trust.”

The format for nomination, originally, was as per Annexure 25 to the Pension Rules, 1995 and limited to receipt of commuted value in the event of death of the pensioner without receiving the commuted value. It was revised by the Central Office Circular No. CO/PER/ ER-A/017/2012 dated 29/12/2012 extending its scope to receiving commuted value and arrears of pension and family pension in the event of death of pensioner or family pensioner, thus, making it applicable to the Family Pensioners also.  Revised Form is renumbered as Annexure 26 – Revised.

Format for providing Details of Family:

Rule 39 and 40 deal with payment of Family Pension in the event of death of the employee or pensioner. Family for this purpose is defined in Rule 2 (k) as amended from time to time. Existing provisions are as follows:

(i) wife in the case of a male employee or husband in the case of a female employee;

(ii) a judicially separated wife or husband, such separation not being granted on the ground of adultery and the person surviving was not held guilty of committing adultery;

(iii) son who has not attained the age of twenty-five years and unmarried daughter who has not attained the age of twenty five years including such son or daughter adopted legally,

(iv) Unmarried/Widowed/Divorced daughter till the date of her marriage/re- marriage or the date on which her income exceeds the dependency criteria as defined in clause 8 of these instructions;

(v) Parents who were wholly dependent on the deceased employee as per the dependency criteria as defined by the Corporation from time to time, when he/she was alive, provided that the deceased employee had left behind neither a widow nor a child or had left behind only a widow who has subsequently remarried;

Provided that the eligibility of a member of the family, to family pension at any particular point of time, shall be determined in order of his/her appearance in this clause. 

Dependency Criteria as per the latest CO instructions is Rs.13500/- with effect from 01/04/2024.

The details of family, as defined in Rule 2 (k) have to submitted to LIC as per the Annexure 10. 

Annexure 10 is different from the form of nomination. Sometimes, Annexure 10 is considered as the form for nomination (I talked to a number of pensioners who were treating Annexure 10 as the form of nomination, and hence this clarification).

Form of details of family (Annexure 10) and Form of nomination (Annexure 26 Revised) are to be submitted at the time of retirement, along with the other forms. Whenever, there is any change, that has to be conveyed to the Divisional Office for updating the records. 

Annexure 26 – revised is submitted by the pensioner and after his/her death, by the family pensioner. 

Annexure  - 10 is submitted by the pensioner only. 

Application for family pension has to be submitted by the eligible member of the Family on the demise of the employee or pensioner as per Annexure no. 19.  

LIC is known for the high standard of systems and procedures laid down in various Manuals. Accordingly, appropriate system and procedure of settling retirement benefits including pension are also in place. When LIC Pension Rules were notified by the Central Government, LIC issued detailed and explanatory instructions along with necessary forms required to be completed and kept in record, by way of annexures. At the time of retirement, generally, set of such forms is provided to the employee and after compliance kept in records for hassle free pension payments. 

However, it is advised that our pensioners and family pensioners may ascertain that the prescribed forms for providing details of family for family pension (Annexure 10) and nomination for payment of arrears, etc. after the demise of the pensioner/family pensioner (Annexure 25- revised 2012), have been submitted by them.   

It is advisable that, for nomination (as also for other details provided in profile, Mediclaim, etc.), the pensioner may refer to the ‘retired employees portal’ on LIC’s website. In case the name given there is changed or inaccurate, the same may be got corrected by submitting the relevant form duly completed to the Pension Paying Divisional Office.

 

M P Agnihotri.

Mob No. 9618315890 / 9425206198

Hyderabad