Retiring soon but don’t know how to get your pension? We tell you

You're retiring soon and are eligible to a pension but don't know how to go about it? Instead of losing sleep over it, just follow these 12 simple steps from the Pensioner’s portal of the Government of India, to know how to go about getting your bread and butter after you retire.

Step 1
Make sure that your employee has prepared a list of all the employees that are due to retire within 12 to 15 months. Your Head of Department (HOD) will have to make this list on January 1st,  April 1st, July 1st and October 1st every year.

Step 2
This list should now be sent to the accounts officer concerned by the HOD or Head of the Office on January 31st, April 30th, July 31st and October 31st each year.

Step 3
The list should be communicated to the Directorate of Estates in respect of employees having General Pool Accommodation with a view to obtain 'No Demand’ certificate by the Head office at least 12 months before retiring.

Step 4
There will be a verification and determination prcess of qualifying service, if necessary, it will be done by consulting with you. The determination of average payments should be done at least 12 months before retiring; it should be done by the head of the office. 
The entire process should be completed eight months before you retire.

Step 5
The Head of your office should communicate all the facts pertaining to the pension payments to you for further action at least 8 months before your retirement date

Step 6
You will then have to provide the required documents to the office head six months prior to retiring.

Step 7
The papers should be then presented to pay and accounts office by the Head of the office, atleast four months before retiring.

Step 8
The pay and accounts office will then check the pension and gratuity admissible and forward the Pension Payment Order (PPO) to the pension paying authority at least one month before you retire.

Step 9   
The PPO is then dispatched and sent to the Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) by the Pension Accounting Office (PAO) on the last working day of the month before the month of your retirement.  

Step 10 
The CPAO will then dispatch the bank half of the PPO to Central Pension Payment Cell (CPPC) of the authorized bank by the 20th of the month of your retirement. 

Step 11
Your head of office will also have to hand over the pensioners' half of the PPO to the retiring employee, ie, you.

Step 12
All the formalities will be taken care of by your last working day and the pension will be credited to your account on the last day of your retiring month.