Elderline 14567: the national senior-citizen helpline

India has over a hundred million seniors, and the two most common emergencies in a senior's life are the same two the law names first: children who will not maintain their parents, and caregivers who mistreat them. Elderline exists so that an elderly person, or anyone acting for one, can reach a state machinery that is otherwise scattered across a social welfare office, a police station and a court.

Elderline — shown on the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment's website as the National Helpline for Senior Citizens, 14567 — is a single toll-free number that routes senior-citizen grievances into the state welfare machinery. The ministry's homepage carries the Elderline link alongside its senior-citizen welfare portal, so the number and the scheme are live and current as of 26 August 2026.

Keep three details ready when you call: the caller's address and age, the nature of the problem, and the district. Ask for the complaint or reference number before hanging up. That number is what converts a phone call into a record, and records are what escalations run on.

• Children refusing to maintain a parent — the helpline can counsel and, where needed, connect the parent to the maintenance route described below.
• Abuse, abandonment or neglect — including at home or in an old-age home.
• Pension not arriving — state old-age pension and the central NSAP pension can both be chased; the NSAP portal is at nsap.dord.gov.in.
• Medical and hospitalisation questions — including the 108 ambulance service in most states, and, for those aged seventy and above, the Ayushman Bharat senior-citizen cover: since October 2024, every citizen aged 70 or more gets Rs 5 lakh a year of free hospital treatment under the Ayushman Vay Vandana card, irrespective of income — the expansion is confirmed on the Press Information Bureau's releases.
• Old-age home admission — availability, fees and the district social welfare office's role.
• Legal aid and police follow-through — the helpline coordinates with the district machinery rather than replacing it.

The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 makes it a legal duty of children and heirs to maintain parents and senior citizens who cannot maintain themselves. A parent can apply to the Maintenance Tribunal — ordinarily sitting at the sub-divisional or district level — for a monthly maintenance order. The Tribunal can also order children to pay arrears, and state governments must run old-age homes under the Act.

In practice the application is simple: an affidavit of income and expenses, the children's names and addresses, and the parent's own statement. The Tribunal is meant to be quicker and cheaper than a civil suit, and a parent too frail to attend can be represented through a person authorised in writing.

Kashvi Pathak called 14567 when her widowed father, seventy-eight, was left paying his own medical bills after his son stopped contributing. The call was polite, a complaint number was issued — and then weeks of silence. She then filed a one-page RTI to the District Social Welfare Office: status of complaint number so-and-so, the officer assigned, the action taken with dates, and the reason for delay. The reply, within the statutory thirty days, showed the file had never moved after the first entry. With the RTI reply attached, she sought a personal hearing, counselling was scheduled, and the son was informed that the file would proceed to the Maintenance Tribunal if contributions did not resume. The matter settled without a hearing.

The lesson repeats across every helpline on this site: a helpline opens the file, the RTI moves it.

To:
The Public Information Officer,
Office of the District Social Welfare Officer, [district]

Subject: Application under section 6, RTI Act 2005 —
senior citizen complaint status

Sir/Madam,

In respect of Elderline complaint No. [NUMBER] lodged
on [DATE] by [NAME], kindly provide:

1. Current status of the complaint and stage of action
   as on the date of this reply.
2. Name and designation of the officer assigned to the
   complaint.
3. The action taken on each date since lodgement, with
   file notings.
4. Copies of communications sent to the persons complained
   against, with dates.
5. The reason for delay in resolution, and the norms
   prescribed for redressing such complaints.

Application fee of Rs. 10 paid as per state rules.

Yours faithfully,
[Name, address, phone]

A similar application works against the pension office for a stalled old-age pension — see the pension delay RTI guide — and the AI RTI drafter auto-fills the PIO details.

Yes, it is toll-free, and neighbours, relatives or caregivers routinely call on a senior's behalf. Keep the senior's consent on record where the complaint is about family members.

Yes — maintenance refusal by children is among the core grievances Elderline handles, and the statutory remedy runs through the Maintenance Tribunal under the 2007 Act.

No. The helpline counsels and escalates within the district administration. A maintenance claim becomes a case only when an application is filed before the Tribunal.

Approach the District Social Welfare Officer directly in writing, keep a stamped copy, and follow the same RTI route. The state RTI portals directory lists where the online application goes in each state.

• All helplines and grievance routes
• Pension delayed? File one RTI
• State RTI portals directory
• Citizen RTI Playbook
• The RTI Playbook book — the complete drafting and appeals guide.

Last reviewed: 26 August 2026.