By Ghulam Habib, Retired Senior Engineer, PTCL
Pakistan has taken an important step toward making life certification easier for retired government employees by involving the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) in the process of verifying pensioners’ life certificates. In my view, this initiative deserves appreciation, and credit should be given to those who proposed it.
For elderly pensioners, particularly those who have spent decades serving the government, any effort to simplify the annual or periodic life-certificate process is welcome. However, while the basic idea is commendable, some practical difficulties are still causing unnecessary inconvenience to retired employees.
Too Much Confusion Through Social Media
One of the problems pensioners currently face is the continuous flow of new information and videos on social media.
Every morning and evening, pensioners may come across a new video explaining what they supposedly need to do to obtain or submit their life certificate. In many cases, people appear to obtain information verbally from someone and immediately publish a video about it on social media.
The result is confusion.
An elderly pensioner who watches several different videos may no longer know which procedure is actually official. One video may suggest one method, while another recommends something different.
Government departments should therefore provide one clear, official and regularly updated procedure for pensioners. This information should be available through official websites, banks, NADRA offices and other relevant channels so that elderly people do not have to depend on unverified social-media videos.
The NADRA Fee Is Understandable
It has also come to our attention through social media that NADRA charges a fee of approximately Rs. 25 for issuing the certificate.
If this is the officially prescribed fee, I believe pensioners can understand the reason for it. Government offices require staff, equipment, electricity, maintenance and other resources. It is therefore reasonable that a modest service fee may be charged for providing a service.
The real issue is not the small NADRA fee.
The real issue is what happens after the certificate is obtained.
The Additional Cost and Inconvenience
Some pensioners may still be required to print the certificate and send it to the relevant Accounts or Accountant General’s office through a courier service.
This creates an unnecessary burden.
Consider the situation of an elderly retired employee. After obtaining the life certificate, he or she may have to:
- Arrange transportation from home.
- Travel to a printing or courier facility.
- Obtain a printed copy of the certificate.
- Pay courier charges.
- Send the document to the relevant office, sometimes in another city.
- Keep track of whether the document has been received.
The actual monetary cost may not appear very large to a healthy person. Perhaps a few hundred rupees does not seem significant.
But for an elderly pensioner, the physical effort, transportation, waiting, standing in queues and mental stress can be more important than the money itself.
Those who design government procedures should therefore consider not only the financial cost but also the human cost.
The Problem of Bank Visits and Fingerprints
There is another issue that deserves attention.
Banks sometimes require pensioners to appear for life verification, apparently using biometric or fingerprint verification. Banks have fingerprint-scanning equipment, which may not be available in every ordinary government office.
Biometric verification can be useful because it provides an additional method of confirming a person’s identity.
However, elderly people can experience difficulties with fingerprint recognition. As people grow older, fingerprints may become less easily readable by biometric devices. I experienced such a situation myself when I visited a bank for fingerprint verification. Initially, the machine was unable to properly recognize my fingerprint. After repeated attempts, the fingerprint was eventually accepted.
This may seem like a minor technical problem, but for an elderly pensioner it can become a considerable source of anxiety.
Banks should therefore have a clear alternative procedure for cases where biometric verification repeatedly fails.
Banks Should Not Create Unnecessary Inconvenience
If banks are authorized to conduct life verification for pensioners, there should also be clear rules regarding how and when pensioners are contacted.
An elderly retired government employee should not be repeatedly called to a bank without a clear explanation of why the visit is necessary.
The purpose of technology should be to reduce unnecessary travel, not create additional journeys.
If a pensioner’s identity has already been verified through an official NADRA system, the government should make maximum use of that verification rather than asking the pensioner to repeat essentially the same process through several different institutions.
Complete the Digital Chain
The government has already taken an important step by connecting the life-certificate process with NADRA.
Why not take one more step?
If NADRA can verify that a pensioner is alive and issue an authenticated life certificate, there should be a mechanism through which that certificate can be transmitted electronically to the relevant pension authority.
For example, the government could establish an official digital system through which a pensioner could:
NADRA verification → Digital Life Certificate → Pension Department/Accounts Office
The pensioner should not have to become the courier between government departments.
If an electronic system cannot immediately be implemented, the government could consider providing a low-cost official postal or courier service for pensioners. A modest additional fee—perhaps Rs. 50 or Rs. 100, depending on the actual cost—could be collected at the time the certificate is issued, with the certificate then transmitted directly to the appropriate government office.
The exact amount should, of course, be determined by the government after calculating the actual administrative and delivery costs.
Let Technology Do the Work
An even simpler solution would be to allow pensioners to submit their authenticated life certificates electronically through a secure government portal, mobile application or official email system.
A pensioner could receive the certificate from NADRA and then submit it electronically to the relevant department.
This would eliminate unnecessary travel, printing and courier expenses.
In other words:
If the government can verify the pensioner digitally, the pensioner should not have to physically carry the proof from one government office to another.
This is the fundamental principle that should guide the reform.
A Small Reform Could Produce a Large Benefit
The government may consider the cost of creating such a system, but it should also consider the savings that could result from digitizing the entire process.
Pakistan has a large number of retired government employees. If each pensioner currently has to make additional journeys, print documents and use courier services, the combined cost—in money, time and human effort—is substantial.
A properly integrated digital system could reduce:
- unnecessary transportation;
- printing expenses;
- courier charges;
- paperwork;
- queues at offices;
- repeated biometric verification;
- administrative workload; and
- inconvenience for elderly citizens.
The resulting savings for the government and pensioners could be significant.
A Request From a Retired Government Employee
I am not raising this issue merely as a critic of the system. I am raising it as a retired government employee who has experienced some of these difficulties personally.
The government has already made an effort to improve the life-certificate process through NADRA. That effort deserves recognition.
My sincere request to the authorities is: please complete the reform.
If the government has taken the first step toward digital verification, take the next step by creating a system through which the verified certificate reaches the relevant pension authority without requiring an elderly pensioner to make another journey.
Even if the government needs to charge a reasonable additional service fee for electronic transmission or official delivery, most pensioners would likely find this preferable to making another trip to a courier office.
The objective should be simple:
Verify the pensioner once, issue the certificate once, and deliver the information directly to the department that needs it.
There is no reason for an elderly citizen to act as a messenger between government institutions in the digital age.
Conclusion
Pakistan’s retired government employees have already spent a substantial part of their lives serving the country. When they reach old age, government procedures should be designed with their circumstances in mind.
NADRA’s involvement in life certification is a positive development. But the process should not end with issuing a certificate. The entire chain—from verification to submission to the pension authority—should be made as simple and digital as possible.
The government can charge a reasonable fee if necessary. What matters is that the pensioner should not have to bear unnecessary travel, paperwork and administrative inconvenience.
A little additional effort by the authorities could turn a partially improved system into a genuinely pensioner-friendly system.
Let us make technology work for our senior citizens—not make senior citizens work around technology.
Ghulam Habib
Retired Senior Engineer, PTCL