No, Banks Are Not Obliged To Visit Pensioners’ Homes To Collect Life Certificate

The claim is misleading. Banks are not mandated to go to pensioners' houses to get their life certificates.

A misleading claim about banks being obligated to visit pensioners' home to collect their life certificates before stopping pension payments is being shared on social media.

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A message stating that banks must visit the house of a pensioner to enquire why they may not have submitted their Life Certificate before stopping payment of pension has gone viral on social media.

The claim: Those sharing the message insinuate that the points mentioned in the text are applicable to all pensioners, following the orders given by the Karnataka High Court for Writ Petition 405/23 . The message reads,

"IF LIFE CERTIFICATE IS NOT SUBMITTED BY A PENSIONER.

Writt Petition No. 405/23 Karnataka HC. If life certificate is not submitted by pensioner before stopping his pension, it is the duty of the bank to visit the house of pensioner and know the reason for non-submission. Court ordered payment of all arrears and also imposed a fine of ₹One lakh on the Respondent.

Payment is to be made in two weeks, with 6% interest. If payment not made in 2 weeks, the rate of interest increased to 18% percent interest."

An archived version of this post can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of more posts sharing this claim can be seen here and here.)

Is it true?: The claim is misleading.

• The order placed an obligation for the bank in that specific case to ensure that they would collect the Life Certificate of the petitioner.

• In the order, the Bengaluru bench categorically stated that the direction was not applicable for all cases.

How did we find out the truth?: We looked for the case's details on the Karnataka High Court's website and found the documents related to the writ petition.

• On 03 January 2023, a 102-year-old pensioner, H Nagabhushana Rao filed a petition in the Karnataka High Court after he did not receive his pension under the Swatantra Sainik Samman Gaurava Dhana scheme for 13 months.

• Entitled to the Freedom Fighters' pension, Rao did not receive his pension for 13 months due to non-submission of his life certificate, which is mandatory for receipt of pension.

• Rao went to court after the bank did not agree to pay arrears for the time he had not submitted a life certificate.

• The court directed the bank to grant the arrears for 13 months, stating that in this specific case, the bank was obligated to go to Rao's residence to understand why he had not submitted his life certificate before stopping in pension.

The order specified that while the bank was directed to go to the petitioner's residence in this specific case, it was not a "sweeping direction" for all banks to do so for pensioners.

The court said that the obligation was not mandatory for every bank.

(Source: Karnataka HC/Altered by The Quint)

Conclusion: A message has gone viral with the misleading claim that banks are obligated to visit pensioners if they do not receive their life certificates before stopping pensions.

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