Life certificate season: the fake 'pension office' call that asks for your PPO number and OTP

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Fraudsters call pensioners offering to 'update' the life certificate, ask for the PPO number and bank details, then the OTP. CPAO says no agency calls about it. When it is due, the official ways to submit it, and what to do if you were tricked.

01 / The short answer

If someone calls or messages to 'update' or submit your life certificate, and asks for your PPO (Pension Payment Order) number, bank details, Aadhaar or an OTP, it is a scam. The Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO), which handles central government civil pensions, says no bank or government agency calls about the life certificate or asks for an OTP.

Already shared an OTP or installed an app? Call your bank on its official number now. If money has gone, call 1930. Section 08 has the steps.

02 / When it is due

The life certificate is your yearly proof, to whoever pays your pension, that you are alive. Under CPAO's rules, banks tell central government pensioners who miss it to submit 'at the earliest to avoid discontinuation of their pension'. That fear is what the fraud uses.

Confirmed for central government civil pensioners paid through banks, in CPAO's 2026 scheme booklet (para 17.2):

• November is the month to submit, every year.
• Aged 80 or above? You may submit from 1 October, valid until 30 November of the next year.
• Real reminders: banks are to send SMS or email reminders on 24 October and on 1, 15 and 25 November.

Not announced yet: the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW) usually opens submission for those aged 80 and above from 1 October, but had not announced the 2026 dates by 29 September, the Economic Times reported. Campaign 5.0 camps have started in Odisha: PIB says a camp for DoT and BSNL pensioners was held in Balasore on 23 September 2026 'as part of the Nation-wide Digital Life Certificate Campaign 5.0'. Last year's Campaign 4.0 ran from 1 to 30 November.

EPFO's EPS-95 pensioners follow a different rule: EPFO said in November 2020 that they can submit at any time of the year, and that the certificate stays valid for one year from the date of submission (PIB). State government and other pensioners: confirm your dates with your bank or pension office, never with a caller.

03 / The official ways to submit it

• At your bank: any branch of the bank that pays your pension. Ask for an acknowledgement.
• Bank doorstep service: in major cities, the Doorstep Banking Service can collect your life certificate at home. Book it through its 'Doorstep Banking (DSB)' app, psballiance.com or its toll-free number, CPAO's booklet says.
• On your own phone: install UIDAI's AadhaarFaceRD and the Jeevan Pramaan Face App from Google Play or Apple's App Store, as listed on jeevanpramaan.gov.in. You type in your Aadhaar, PPO and bank details yourself and scan your face. You then get an SMS with your Pramaan ID, and the certificate reaches your bank or post office electronically.
• At a Jeevan Pramaan centre: Common Services Centres (CSCs), banks, post offices and treasuries can do it with your fingerprint or iris. The portal has a 'Locate a Centre' search.
• Through the postman: ask at your post office, in India Post's Post Info app or on the number of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), 155299. IPPB's page says it charges ₹70, including GST, per certificate, with no doorstep fee. For EPFO's EPS-95 pensioners, EPFO said in November 2025 that it would bear the whole cost, so the service should be free for them (PIB). IPPB's fee page does not mention this, so check at the post office.
• Too ill to go? Send your pension branch a doctor's certificate, and the bank can send an officer to your home or hospital, CPAO's booklet says.

Jeevan Pramaan's contact number is 1800 111 555. Locked your Aadhaar biometrics? Unlock them first: face and fingerprint checks fail while they are locked. How to unlock.

04 / What the fraud looks like

Confirmed: CPAO's homepage alert says fraudsters call 'under the pretence of helping them to update their Life Certificate online'. They ask for the PPO number, date of birth, bank details and Aadhaar number, then for an OTP 'for verification'. With the OTP, they get into the pension account and move the money out. CPAO's line: 'CPAO, Banks or any other Govt. Agency does not call for submission of Annual Life Certificate or ask for sharing any personal information including OTP.' Do not share your PPO number with anyone, it adds.

Reported: in February 2026 the Ministry of Railways warned pensioners about calls and messages in its officials' name seeking details for PPO updates, KYC and 'additional pension benefits', and said it sends no links for updating the PPO, Akashvani reported.

• Hyderabad, October 2025: a retired bank employee clicked a fake Facebook link that claimed to offer online submission of a Punjab National Bank life certificate, and entered his bank details. A caller posing as the bank, on WhatsApp with its logo, sent an APK file (an Android app from outside the app store) and told him to install it. That evening ₹12.99 lakh had gone from his three accounts, The Hindu reported.
• Bhubaneswar, November 2025: a 64-year-old pensioner got an SMS appearing to come from UCO Bank, asking him to update his life certificate, OdishaBytes reported. He entered his details, received several OTPs and lost ₹8.5 lakh. Police arrested three people from Assam in June 2026 and allege the network used mule bank accounts. Mint, citing The New Indian Express, also reported the loss and the arrests.

05 / Real message or fake?

Can be genuine: a bank reminder to submit by 30 November; after 1 December, a bank SMS or email warning that your pension may stop and asking whether you want a paid doorstep service (CPAO's booklet caps the charge at ₹60); an SMS with your Pramaan ID just after you did it yourself; a postman you booked. A genuine message does not ask for your OTP. If you want the doorstep service, contact your branch yourself.

Signs of the scam:

• A call offering to update or submit the certificate for you.
• Any request to read out an OTP, or for a PIN, card number or CVV.
• A 'life certificate' link in an SMS, WhatsApp or social media, or an app file sent on WhatsApp.
• Panic plus a shortcut: your pension stops today unless you act through the caller or the link.
• Offers of extra pension or a PPO 'update'.
• A caller who already knows your PPO number, bank or other details. That is not proof they are genuine. Reported: in November 2022 an IANS report in Telangana Today quoted a CPAO memo: fraudsters were calling pensioners with data such as their PPO number, Aadhaar number and dates of appointment and retirement, to convince them the call was from the pension department.

Not sure? Hang up and call your bank on the number in your passbook or on your card, or paste the message into our scam check. If the caller turns to threats of a police case or arrest, see the digital arrest scam.

06 / A checklist to send your parents

• Nobody from the pension office, the bank or the government calls to do your life certificate. Hang up.
• Never tell anyone an OTP or PIN, or give a caller your PPO number, Aadhaar or bank details.
• Do not open links or install apps sent for a 'life certificate'.
• Do it yourself: at your bank, with the Jeevan Pramaan Face App, or through the postman.
• Central government civil pensioners: submit in November (aged 80 or above: from 1 October).
• EPFO (EPS-95) pensioners: any time of year; it stays valid for a year.
• Everyone else: ask your bank or pension office for your dates.
• Shared an OTP? Call your bank now. Money gone? Call 1930.

Copy these lines to the family WhatsApp group, or print them in large type for the phone table.

07 / Confirmed, reported and not known

Confirmed (official documents): CPAO's alert and 2026 booklet, including the ₹60 cap on banks' paid doorstep service; the Jeevan Pramaan portal and FAQ; IPPB's fee page; PIB releases on EPS-95 timing (16 November 2020), the EPFO agreement (3 November 2025), Campaign 4.0 (5 November 2025) and the Balasore camp (24 September 2026). Reported (media): the usual 1 October start and missing 2026 dates (Economic Times); the Railways warning (Akashvani); the Hyderabad case (The Hindu); the Bhubaneswar case and arrests (OdishaBytes; Mint, citing The New Indian Express, also reported the loss and the arrests); a CPAO memo on callers who already hold pensioners' details (IANS, in Telangana Today, November 2022). Those arrested are accused, not convicted. Claimed (by fraudsters): that they call from a pension office or bank, and that your pension stops unless you act now. Not available: a date on CPAO's alert; DoPPW's 2026 dates; an official count of life certificate frauds; confirmation on IPPB's own fee page that EPS-95 pensioners pay nothing.

08 / Tricked? What to do now

• Money has gone: call 1930 now, then your bank on its official number, then complete the complaint on cybercrime.gov.in. Our lost-money checklist and UPI fraud guide cover the first hour; here are the bank fraud helpline numbers.
• Shared an OTP, PIN or bank details, but no money has gone: call your bank now and block net banking, UPI and cards. Change PINs and passwords. If money leaves later, call 1930 at once.
• Installed an app: switch on flight mode, uninstall it and call your bank. Change PINs and passwords from another, trusted phone. How APK malware works.
• Shared your Aadhaar or an Aadhaar OTP: check your Aadhaar authentication history. How to check and lock it down.
• Report the call or message on Chakshu, on the Sanchar Saathi portal, within 30 days, as Chakshu asks. How to report.
• Then submit the real certificate through a route in section 03. Ignore anyone who offers to 'recover' your money for a fee: what recovery really looks like.