New Delhi, Jun 12 (KNN) In a bid to bring service delivery closer to the door steps of Employees’ Pension Scheme (EPS) pensioners, especially during the challenging times of COVID -19 Pandemic, the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has partnered with Common Service Centre (CSC) to provide facility to submit Digital Jeevan Pramaan certificate, said the labour ministry said in a statement.

By leveraging the last mile network of over 3.65 lakh Common Services Centers, EPFO has provided its 65 lakh pensioners facility to submit Digital Jeevan Pramaan closer to their residence.

''EPS pensioners are required to submit a Jeevan Pramaan /Life certificate each year to continue to draw pension. In addition to CSCs, the EPS pensioners can also submit Jeevan Pramaan through 135 regional offices and 117 district offices and pension disbursing banks,'' the statement added.

A multi-agency model adopted by EPFO empowers EPS pensioners with choice and autonomy to select the service delivery agency as per their convenience.

A key policy change has been to allow EPS pensioners to submit Digital Jeevan Pramaan at any time during the year as per their convenience.

The life certificate will remain valid for one year fr0m date of submission. Earlier, the pensioners were required to submit the life certificate in the month of November.

This resulted in difficulties faced by pensioners and generated a large number of grievances on account of stoppage of pension.

EPFO is committed to facilitate financial independence of its 65 lakh EPS pensioners by ensuring timely disbursement of pension especially during the times of crisis, said the statement.