Bogus pensioners causing Rs 600-cr annual loss to exchequer in Karnataka

Having found lakhs of bogus pensioners causing massive losses to the state exchequer, the government is in the process of overhauling the way pension money is distributed.

There are 67 lakh pension beneficiaries in the state and the government spends Rs 7,500 crore annually on them.

“Of this, a minimum of 20% are bogus cases,” Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said on Wednesday. These included fake accounts and those deceased.

“Pension is being drawn from several accounts whose beneficiaries passed away several years ago,” he said.

According to a rough estimate by officials, the state is suffering losses to a tune of Rs 600 crore annually owing to these bogus cases.

To filter fake accounts and to streamline the whole process, the government will henceforth not depend on the applications by beneficiaries, but will identify them based on Aadhaar and ration card details, Revenue Minister R Ashoka said.

Speaking to DH, Ashoka explained, “In one month’s time, we will link all the accounts to Aadhaar numbers. By corroborating the beneficiaries’ ration card details with these Aadhaar numbers, we ourselves will go their doorsteps and tell them that they are eligible for pensions. The beneficiaries need not apply for it. They just have to give us their bank passbook.”

Through this, the government hopes to weed out bogus applications, he said.

Elaborating on the existing crisis which was causing losses to the government, Ashoka said money was being credited to several bank accounts after people’s demise.

“For example, if the beneficiary had four children who are residents of different cities, all of them are claiming the pension. We want to eliminate such irregularities,” he added.

4L accounts unidentified

That apart, about four lakh accounts are pending to be identified. “No one is coming forward to claim them,” the minister said.

Further, the system of being able to draw pension from post office will be
stopped.

“The problem with this is the impostors keep signing and drawing the amount without anyone to stop them,” Ashoka said.

9-month deadline

Also, henceforth, if a bank account is not operated for nine months or more, it will be locked and the money cannot be drawn. “This will help us identify all the bogus cases,” he said.