The Ministry of Finance has overhauled pension disbursement procedures nationwide, scrapping the decades-old paper verification system in favour of mandatory digital authentication through NADRA.
A notification issued by the ministry states that pension payments will now be processed solely through the Digital Pension System. Retirees will no longer need to submit physical life certificates or visit bank branches for biometric checks; instead, verification will be completed online or through NADRA facilities every six months.
Pensioners can confirm their status using the NADRA Pak ID mobile app or by visiting an authorized NADRA centre. Once verification is completed, funds will be credited directly to the pensioner’s bank account, with no additional processing required from banks.
The move also does away with the fixed March and September verification cycle that pensioners previously had to follow. In its place, the ministry has introduced a rolling six-month deadline calculated separately for each individual, giving pensioners more flexibility in timing their verification.
Banks have been instructed to stop demanding biometric confirmation or life certificates from pensioners altogether, and are barred from freezing or marking pension accounts as dormant over delayed verification. The ministry clarified that accounts will remain fully operational throughout, with payments resuming as soon as digital verification is confirmed.
The new system does carry a penalty for non-compliance, however: pensioners who fail to complete verification within the six-month window will have their payments put on hold until the process is finished.
The reform is aimed at reducing bureaucratic hurdles for retirees while curbing fraudulent pension claims through more reliable, technology-based identity checks.
