CPAO has issued fresh guidelines instructing officials to process NPS pension cases like OPS to prevent delays, ensuring timely pension disbursement for retirees.
The Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) has issued new guidelines to ensure timely pension to retired employees of the National Pension System (NPS). In an Office Memorandum (OM) issued on March 12, 2025, the CPAO has reminded the concerned officials that NPS pension cases should be processed in the same manner as the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), as earlier instructed on December 18, 2023.
Although clear instructions were given earlier, the CPAO found that some Pay and Accounts Offices (PAOs) are still misrepresenting pension cases. In particular, where two PPO booklets (pensioner portion and disburser portion) are to be submitted, some offices are still submitting provisional PPOs with three copies under the old procedure, causing unnecessary delays.
To make the pension disbursement smooth and fast, the CPAO has appealed to all the concerned officers, Principal CCAs, CCAs, AGs and authorised bank CPPCs to strictly follow the prescribed guidelines. These steps are aimed at ensuring that NPS retirees get their pension on time and without any hindrance.
NPS Vs OPS
The difference between the OPS and NPS for government employees has always been a topic of discussion. OPS was discontinued by the central government in January 2004, replacing it with the NPS pension system. Many states, however, later reintroduced after trade unions and employee representative bodies started agitation and protests against the new pension scheme. Until now, when the Unified Pension Scheme has been announced and is to be rolled out from April 1 this year, several employee unions are demanding from the Centre the restoration of OPS.
Under the OPS, employees used to get a fixed monthly pension after retirement, which was a fixed part of their last salary. In this, the government used to give full guarantee of pension, which provided financial security after retirement.
On the other hand, NPS is a contribution based (Defined Contribution) scheme, in which both the employee and the employer invest a fixed amount. The pension amount depends entirely on the performance of the investment in the market, that is, the amount received after retirement is not fixed. Due to this, many retired employees are confused about it.
Now, the CPAO has taken the initiative to simplify NPS pension processing by issuing new guidelines. For a long time, the delay in pension approval was causing trouble for retired employees, causing them financial uncertainty. Under the new rules of CPAO, the pension processing of employees retiring under NPS will be made similar to the process of OPS. This will not only make the pension disbursement faster and transparent, but will also ensure that NPS beneficiaries receive their pension on time and without any hassles.
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