Using Jeevan Pramaan digital mechanism to submit a pensioner's annual life certificate

Background

My mom is a "family pensioner" by virtue of being the spouse of my deceased dad, an employee of the Govt. Of India. Most (perhaps, all) pensioners either by being self or spouse, need to submit something called a "Jeevan Pramaan" certificate annually to the Pension Disbursing Authority (PDA, and most likely a Bank) every October / November to prove that the pensioner is still alive. While most operations related to the banks can now be done online, this process of submitting the "Jeevan Pramaan" certificate would, until recently, require a physical visit to the bank at least once a year by the pensioner.

This can be a problem for the pensioner and their families as many pensioners over the age of 75 years have mobility issues.

The "Jeevan Pramaan" digital mechanism introduced a few years back ensures that this can be done without stepping out from wherever the pensioner is. All that is required is a smartphone with a camera, an Aadhaar card with properly linked mobile number and email address, and an Internet connectivity. Note that no other biometric device such as retina scanner or fingerprint scanner is required.

Read on to find out my experiences on the same.

Disclaimer

Please note that this is my first experience in this matter, and the steps mentioned here may not be accurate and could be subject to change. This is only intended as a rough guide for the end-to-end process. Many other websites mentions steps for the same, but I have noticed that they miss out on smaller details, and / or do not mention the complete process.

Also, please note that this was only performed on an Android smartphone, and as such, I have no clue about the steps for an Apple smartphone, though one can guess that the steps would be similar assuming that the apps mentioned here are also available for an Apple smartphone.

Please also note that not all banks / branches / PDAs are aware of this process. You may find yourself to be the trailblazer, so be prepared with proofs of folks who have successfully done this earlier.

First things first

The very first and obvious requirement is that the pensioner (and the operator, a term which will be clarified later) need to not only have their Aadhar card(s), but also have a valid accessible mobile number and an email linked to their Aadhaar accounts.

Steps

Here are the steps assuming that the above mentioned prerequisites are satisfied:

1. Download the "Aadhaar FaceRD (early access)" app from the Google Play Store. Please note that this is clearly named as "early access". So, this is not a production release verison (expect bugs). Also, make doubly sure to verify the author as "Unique Identification Authority of India" (UIDAI). Please also note that there are various other apps named similarly from other authors / developers.
• Please note that installing this app will not show up as any icon in the apps. This is most probably because this app is used by other apps (such as the "Jeevan Pramaan" app) to launch the Face Recognition.
2. Download the "Jeevan Pramaan" app from the Google Pay Store making sure the author is "National Informatics Centre (NIC)".
3. Launch the "Jeevan Pramaan" app, and it should detect that the "Aadhaar FaceRD (early access)" app is installed, and mention that the biometric facility is available.
4. After going ahead, we then come to the confusing part, which is that of "Operator Verification". This possibly indicates that the pensioner may be relying on some other person for carrying out the steps. In any case, the Operator and the Pensioner can be the same. So, if you know the pensioners details (e.g., your mom or dad or self), please go ahead with the same details.

• Fill in the details such as Operator's Aadhaar card number, linked mobile number, and email address (all are mandatory).
• Enter the received OTP on the mobile or the email address.
• Then, the next step is to do the same for the pensioner. However, the type of pension has to be selected from one of the following: ("Service", "Family", "Others", "Defence Staff").]
• This will open up the "Aadhaar FaceRD (early access)" app automatically, and ask for permission to access the phone camera. Accept the option as per what you feel convenient. Please remember to blink while the camera turns on. In a few seconds, the app will mention that it is confirmed, or will ask to do it again.
  
• The final step is to confirm if the Operator needs to generate the Jeevan Pramaan certificate for any other pensioners, which is clearly not the case if you are the pensioner or doing it for a single pensioner.
• After confirming, the app will display a Jeevan Pramaan Certificate Id number that should be noted down. This would be used to download the Certificate from the website or elsewhere.
• An SMS / email would also be received from the PDA / Bank after 24 hours. Please keep this handy. It may be required at the PDA / Bank.
  
• Download the Certificate from the Jeevan Pramaan website (https://jeevanpramaan.gov.in/), by clicking on "Pensioner Login", and entering the Pramaan Id.
• Get a print of this certificate. I got 3 copies, one for our records, one for the Bank, and one for the Bank with self attestation of the pensioner (just in case).
  

At the bank

These are the steps that I followed:

1. Took the 3 printouts to the bank (or Pension Disbursing Authority).
2. Submitted one copy to them, got an acknowledgement on the second copy for my own records. The 3rd one with the self attestation is just in case the officers decide to ask for it. In my case, the bank didn't ask for self attestation, so the 3rd copy was unused.

Note that there was some protestation in my case possibly due to it being the first such case in the branch. I showed the SMS received from the bank. The bank officers mentioned that some cases are often rejected after 24 hours of application. However, more than 24 hours had passed in our case, and the same was accepted.

Conclusion

This digital mechanism of generating the "Jeevan Pramaan" certificate is a real boon for pensioners who have difficulty in moving. This will even work for bed ridden pensioners.

The "Aadhaar FaceRD (early access)" app seems to be built for multiple such apps to use internally. I will be waiting to see where else it will be used.

MeitY seems to have done a commendable job. Congratulations on the innovation.