Jeevan Pramaan 2026: submit your pension life certificate from your phone before 30 November

By the author of From Rupees to Riches: Master the Indian Wealth Game. Published 5 November 2026.

Jeevan Pramaan is the government's Aadhaar-based digital life certificate. Every central government pensioner must submit a life certificate once a year to keep the pension coming, and the last date for 2026 is 30 November 2026. Pensioners aged 80 or above could start from 1 October; everyone else submits between 1 and 30 November.

You do not need to visit the bank. A Jeevan Pramaan life certificate can be generated on a smartphone using face authentication, at a free camp, or at home through the postman. This guide covers the three routes, the details you need, and what happens if you miss the date.

Jeevan Pramaan last date and who must submit

The Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare runs a nationwide Digital Life Certificate campaign from 1 to 30 November 2026 in 2,000 districts and cities. It is the fifth such campaign and the largest so far. The department is aiming for 2.30 crore digital life certificates, 1.50 crore of them through face authentication.

The earlier window for pensioners aged 80 and above has applied since a 2019 DoPPW order (Business Today, Outlook Money). A certificate covers one year, so you submit again next November.

This guide covers central government pensioners, whose pension is paid through a bank or post office. Railway, defence, EPFO and state government pensioners follow their own departments' instructions. Check with your pension office if you are not sure which rules apply to you.

What you need before you start

Keep these ready. They are the same for every route.

• Your Aadhaar number, and Aadhaar registered with your bank or post office (the pension disbursing authority).
• Your PPO (Pension Payment Order) number.
• Your pension bank account number.
• The name of your pension sanctioning authority and disbursing agency (for example, the bank branch that pays you).
• A mobile number for the one-time passwords.

The details must match your pension records exactly. A mismatch in the name or PPO number gets a digital certificate rejected.

How to submit Jeevan Pramaan by face authentication

This is the route the government is pushing hardest this year, and it is free. You need a smartphone (Android or iPhone) with a working front camera. A family member's phone is fine. The steps below follow the official Jeevan Pramaan face app user manual.

1. Install AadhaarFaceRD. Search for "AadhaarFaceRD" in the Google Play Store or App Store and install it. On Android it shows no icon after installing; that is normal.
2. Install the Jeevan Pramaan Face App from the same store.
3. Operator authentication. Open the Jeevan Pramaan app and enter the Aadhaar number and mobile number of the person operating the phone. This can be the pensioner. Enter the OTP and complete a face scan of the operator.
4. Pensioner authentication. Enter the pensioner's name as in Aadhaar, Aadhaar number, mobile number, type of pension, PPO number, pension account number, sanctioning authority and disbursing agency. Tick the declarations.
5. Face scan. Hold the phone at eye level in good light, keep the face inside the circle and follow the instructions on screen.
6. Note the Pramaan ID. The screen shows a Pramaan ID for each PPO number, and you also get it by SMS. The certificate goes to your bank or post office directly.

To download the certificate later, open jeevanpramaan.gov.in, choose Pensioner Login and enter the Pramaan ID.

Other ways to submit: camps, banks and the postman

Campaign camps. Through November, banks, post offices and India Post Payments Bank run camps across 2,000 districts and cities, with doorstep visits where needed. Ask your pension-paying branch where the nearest camp is.

At the bank or post office. You can still go to your branch in person, give your Aadhaar and PPO details and authenticate with a fingerprint or face scan there.

At home through India Post Payments Bank. The postman or Gramin Dak Sevak comes to your house and generates the certificate on the spot. India Post Payments Bank charges ₹70 including GST for each successful certificate, with no separate doorstep charge (Business Standard). Book it at your post office, through the Post Info app, or on the India Post service request page.

For help with the app or portal, the Jeevan Pramaan helpline is 1800 111 555 (Vikaspedia).

What happens if you miss 30 November

If the certificate does not reach your bank or post office by 30 November, the pension can be stopped from December (Business Standard). It is not lost. Once you submit the certificate, by any of the routes above, the pension restarts and the held amount is paid as arrears with the next payment.

So a missed deadline is a cash-flow problem, not a permanent one. Still, a pensioner who relies on the monthly credit for household bills should not leave it to the last week, when camps and helplines are busiest.

Three mistakes that get certificates rejected

• Name or PPO mismatch. Copy the PPO number from the pension order or passbook, and the name exactly as in Aadhaar.
• Aadhaar not seeded with the pension account. If your bank has not linked Aadhaar to the pension account, the certificate cannot be matched. Fix this at the branch first.
• Not checking it was accepted. After submitting, use the Pramaan ID to download the certificate, and ask your branch or check your passbook in December that the pension was credited.

Questions people ask

Can my son or daughter submit it for me? They can operate the phone, but the face scan must be yours. The app records them as the operator and you as the pensioner.

Do I need a fingerprint scanner? No. Face authentication works with the phone's camera. Fingerprint devices are only used at bank branches and camps.

My fingerprints are faded. Can I still submit? Yes. Face authentication does not use fingerprints at all.

Does the certificate cover more than one pension? If you get both your own pension and a family pension, add each PPO number in the app. Each gets its own Pramaan ID.

Is the pension taxable? Yes, pension is taxed as salary. Central government pensioners waiting for the next pay revision can see what it would mean in our 8th Pay Commission fitment factor guide. Resident senior citizens without business income do not pay advance tax, as our advance tax guide explains. If you are deciding where to keep savings that earn a regular income, compare the Senior Citizens' Savings Scheme rate with senior citizen FD rates at 33 banks.

For education only. Not investment, tax or legal advice. See our disclaimer.