Pension Not Credited on the 1st? File This RTI — citizen guide 2026

If your pension did not land in your bank on the 1st, you hold a legal right to a written reply within 30 days. File an RTI to the office which owns the delay. For a central government pensioner it is the CPAO. For a state pensioner it is the Treasury. For a bank-side hold it is the SBI or PNB pension cell. Most delays trace to one of four causes. This guide names each cause, points you to the right office, and gives you a copy-paste format which has worked in real cases.

Almost every missed credit traces to one of these four reasons. Read them first. The cause tells you the office to write to.

1. Life Certificate not submitted or rejected. Every pensioner files a yearly life certificate, now mostly through Jeevan Pramaan. A rejected or missing certificate freezes the next credit at once.
2. PPO update pending. A Pension Payment Order (PPO) update sits unfinished after retirement, a transfer, or a switch to family pension. The bank holds the credit until the revised PPO reaches it.
3. Bank-side technical hold. A KYC mismatch, a dormant account, or a broken NPCI account mapping stops the money even when sanction is in order.
4. Sanction order not released. The Treasury or the CPAO has not released the monthly sanction or the revised pension authority, so the bank receives nothing to pay.

Pick the office which owns your delay. One focused RTI to the right desk beats four scattered ones.

You are a central government pensioner. Your pension flows through the Central Pension Accounting Office. File your RTI with the CPAO and copy your Pension Disbursing Bank branch. Use the CPAO portal to confirm your PPO and Special Seal Authority status first.

You are a state government pensioner. Your pension flows through the District Treasury or the Directorate of Pension of your state. File with the Treasury Officer who passes your monthly bill. Family pension and revised PPO cases sit here too.

Your sanction looks fine but the bank shows nothing. The hold is inside the bank. File with the pension cell of your disbursing bank, for most readers the SBI or PNB Centralised Pension Processing Centre. Public sector banks answer RTIs for their pension-disbursing work.

You draw an EPS-95 pension. Your pension comes from the EPFO, not a treasury. File with the Public Information Officer of your EPFO Regional Office.

Address it to the Central Public Information Officer, Central Pension Accounting Office, Trikoot-II, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi 110066. Attach a ₹10 Indian Postal Order or court-fee stamp. Read the deeper RTI for pension delay guide if your case involves CCS Pension Rules fixation.

To,
The Central Public Information Officer,
Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO),
Trikoot-II, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi 110066.

Subject: Request for information under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005,
regarding non-credit of my pension.

Sir/Madam,
I am a pensioner. PPO No.: __________. Bank account: __________.
My pension for the month of __________ 2026 has not been credited.
Please provide the following information.

1. The current status of my pension file and the pending action on it.
2. The name and designation of the dealing officer responsible for it.
3. The reason for the delay and the revised date by which the credit
   will be released.
4. The action taken on my earlier representation dated __________,
   if any.

I am depositing the fee of ₹10. Please supply the information within
30 days as required by Section 7(1). Please transfer this application
under Section 6(3) to any office holding part of the record.

Yours faithfully,
Name, address, phone, date and signature.

Address it to the Public Information Officer, Office of the District Treasury Officer, [your district]. For family pension or a revised PPO, name the event and date in the subject line.

To,
The Public Information Officer,
Office of the District Treasury Officer,
District: __________, State: __________.

Subject: Request under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, regarding
non-credit of my pension for __________ 2026.

Sir/Madam,
I am a state government pensioner. PPO No.: __________.
Treasury Pensioner ID: __________. My pension has not been credited.
Please provide the following information.

1. The current status of my pension bill and the pending action on it.
2. The name and designation of the dealing officer responsible for it.
3. The reason for the delay and the revised date for the credit.
4. The action taken on my earlier representation dated __________,
   if any.

I enclose the fee of ₹10. Please reply within 30 days under
Section 7(1). If part of the record sits with the Directorate of
Pension or my bank, please transfer the relevant part under Section 6(3).

Yours faithfully,
Name, address, phone, date and signature.

Public sector banks are public authorities under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act for their pension-disbursement work. The Central Information Commission has upheld this in pension matters. Address the letter to the Public Information Officer, Centralised Pension Processing Centre of your bank.

To,
The Public Information Officer,
Centralised Pension Processing Centre,
State Bank of India / Punjab National Bank, [your circle].

Subject: Request under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, regarding
non-credit of my pension into account __________.

Sir/Madam,
My pension has not been credited though my sanction is in order.
PPO No.: __________. Account No.: __________.
Please provide the following information.

1. The current status of my pension credit and the pending action,
   including any KYC, dormant-account, or NPCI mapping hold.
2. The name and designation of the dealing officer responsible for it.
3. The reason for the delay and the revised date for the credit.
4. The action taken on my earlier complaint dated __________, if any.

I enclose the fee of ₹10. Please reply within 30 days under
Section 7(1).

Yours faithfully,
Name, address, phone, date and signature.

EPS-95 pensions come from the EPFO. Address it to the Public Information Officer, EPFO Regional Office, [your region]. For a deeper walk-through, read RTI for PF and EPS pension delay and confirm your status on the EPFO Pensioner Portal.

To,
The Public Information Officer,
Employees' Provident Fund Organisation,
Regional Office: __________.

Subject: Request under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, regarding
non-credit of my EPS-95 pension.

Sir/Madam,
I draw an EPS-95 pension. PPO No.: __________.
Member ID / UAN: __________. My pension has not been credited.
Please provide the following information.

1. The current status of my pension and the pending action on it.
2. The name and designation of the dealing officer responsible for it.
3. The reason for the delay and the revised date for the credit.
4. The action taken on my earlier representation dated __________,
   if any.

I enclose the fee of ₹10. Please reply within 30 days under
Section 7(1).

Yours faithfully,
Name, address, phone, date and signature.

Silence for 30 days counts as a refusal under the RTI Act. Your next step costs nothing. File a first appeal to the First Appellate Authority of the same office within 30 days of the deadline. State the date you filed, the date the reply was due, and the silence. Read the first appeal guide for the full method, or build the letter with the First Appeal Builder. A reply which dodges your four questions is also a ground for appeal. See the grounds an office uses to refuse so you answer each one.

If the first appeal also draws silence or an evasive reply, file a second appeal to the Central Information Commission, or to your State Information Commission for a state or treasury office. The window is 90 days from the first-appeal decision. The Commission holds the power to order the information, impose a penalty on the officer, and direct compensation. Read the second appeal to the CIC guide before you file.

All four formats above sit in one printable pack, in Hindi and English, ready to fill and post. Prefer to draft online? The AI RTI Drafter builds the same letter in 11 Indian languages, free.

A short delay is rarely worth an RTI on day one. Wait until after the 5th of the month. If the money has still not arrived, file. The 30-day reply clock then works in your favour.

An RTI does not sanction the pension itself. It forces the office to disclose the file status, the officer's name, and the reason for delay. This disclosure unblocks most family-pension cases, as the Kanpur case above shows.

The fee is ₹10 for every applicant, with no separate senior-citizen rate. Below-poverty-line applicants pay nothing on proof of a BPL card. Some states accept the fee as a postal order, court-fee stamp, or cash.

Central government offices, including the CPAO and EPFO, accept online RTIs at the RTI Online portal. Many states run their own portals. For a treasury or a bank pension cell with no portal, post the letter by registered post and keep the receipt.

Silence for 30 days is a deemed refusal. You move straight to a first appeal at no cost. Check the reply, or the silence, against the rules with the PIO Reply Checker.

Yes. The Information Commission holds the power to impose a penalty of ₹250 per day, up to ₹25,000, on a PIO who delays or refuses without reason. Read the penalty provisions for the PIO and cite them in your second appeal.

The Information Commission holds the power to award compensation for the loss you suffered from the delay. Plead it in your second appeal with the dates and the hardship the missed pension caused.

Yes. The EPFO is a public authority. File with the Public Information Officer of your EPFO Regional Office. The EPS-95 format above asks for your pension status, the officer's name, and the reason for delay.

A railway pensioner files with the Public Information Officer of the concerned Railway Accounts Office or the divisional Personnel branch, with a copy to the disbursing bank pension cell.

A defence pensioner files with the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions), Allahabad, for PPO and sanction questions, and with the disbursing bank pension cell for a credit hold.

• Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) for central pensioner identification and PPO status.
• Jeevan Pramaan portal for the digital life certificate.
• EPFO Pensioner Portal for EPS-95 pension and PPO status.
• Central Information Commission for orders on banks as public authorities for pension functions.
• RTI Online portal for online filing for central offices.
• RTI Act, 2005 covering Sections 6(1), 6(3), 7(1), 19(1) cited above.

• RTI for pension delay (CCS Pension Rules and escalation)
• RTI for PF and EPS-95 pension delay
• Check your PPO and pension status
• How to fill an RTI application form
• First appeal guide
• Second appeal to the CIC
• PMAY beneficiary status check
• The RTI Playbook for the full citizen guide, drafting to second appeal.