Post Office Schemes- Death Claim Settlement Guidelines for PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi, NSC

Through a circular issued on August 28, 2020, the government changed and simplified the process of death settlement claims for several post office small savings plans, including the Public Provident Fund (PPF), National Savings Certificate (NSC), Post Office Monthly Income Scheme (POMIS), and others.

However, the government has discovered that many post offices are failing to adhere to the revised timelines and procedures for settling deceased claims for post office schemes. As a result, on January 10, 2023, the government issued guidelines for the timely settlement of death claim cases.

Guidelines for the Settlement of Death Claims

The basis of death claims, according to the August 2020 circular, can be legal evidence, nomination, or without legal evidence at the discretion of the respective authority for a maximum claim of Rs.5 lakh. In the case of separate accounts, the maximum amount of Rs.5 lakh will apply to each registration number/account. The claimant must obtain a succession certificate from the court if there is no legal evidence and the claim exceeds Rs.5 lakh.

The following are the guidelines for timely settlement of death/deceased claim cases, according to a press release issued on January 10, 2023:

• At the time of receiving KYC documents/deceased claim case documents, the claimant's KYC documents should be verified with the original documents.
• There is no need for witnesses to be physically present when their signatures are available on a copy of the KYC documents.
• Claimants should be reminded to provide their bank account or PO saving account information when submitting deceased claim cases for payment transfer. The claimant's signature/account information should be obtained on the acquittance portion so that claimants/nominees do not have to visit post offices to receive payment by cheque.
• When a deceased claim case is received with complete documents, no further verification via SDI (P) or PRI (P) is required.

Procedure in the event of a registered nomination

According to the guidelines, if a nomination is registered in a small savings scheme held by a post office and is in force at the time of the individual's death, the post office must pay the amount to the nominee regardless of the claim amount without the production of legal evidence.

Procedure in the event that all nominees have died

When the last surviving nominee or single nominee dies, the claim for the scheme is determined in favour of the last deceased nominee's legal heirs rather than the legal heirs of the deceased depositor, according to the guidelines.

Procedure for claims that lack nomination or legal evidence

When there is no nomination or the claimant is unable to provide legal evidence, and the final claim amount is less than Rs.5 lakh, the legal successor has six months after the depositor's death to file a claim. The claimant must submit the following documents to the appropriate postal authority:

• Death certificate of the depositor.
• Original deposit receipt, account statement, or passbook.
• Affidavit.
• Disclaimer letter.
• Indemnity bond.

When the eligible claim amount in the deceased account exceeds Rs.5 lakh, the accounts office should pay the amount to the claimant upon submission of the court-issued succession certificate and the following documents:

Form of claim.

• Original deposit receipt, account statement, or passbook.
• The account holder's death certificate.

The guidelines outline the process for settling death claims for post office schemes when there is a registered nominee, the nominee dies, or there is no nominee. It clearly states the process for death settlement claims that the respective post offices must follow to ensure timely claim settlement.