A 12-digit Pension Payment Order (PPO) number is asked for when a pensioner applies for a pension or submits the annual life certificate, as per a Business Standard report from October 2022. The same report states that pension payment cannot be moved from one bank branch to another without this number. For this reason, many pensioners who have misplaced their papers are trying to know your PPO number again through the official portals.
The number is not a random one.
How EPS pensioners trace a lost PPO number
The Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) pensioners who have forgotten the number are using the lookup facility on the official EPFO Pensioners' Portal, as per a guide published by Bandhan Life. The lookup allows the pensioner to search with the pension-linked bank account number or similar identifiers, such as the PF member ID.
Many pensioners assume that the Aadhaar number alone will bring up the PPO number. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank says that Aadhaar alone may not show it, but a linked UAN or bank details may let the pensioner retrieve it through the portal.
Alongside this, the EPFO toll free helpline, 14470, can be called to get the number.
The separate central government lookup
Pensioners under the central government's SAMPANN pension system use a different page, the Know Your PPO No. lookup of the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare (DoPPW). The page asks for account number and the date of birth, along with a captcha.
After the details are submitted, the page shows the PPO number and the registered mobile number. The Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) also has a PPO Status page, where the pensioner enters the PPO number and the captcha, and the current status is shown after clicking "Submit".
If the mobile number shown on the page is wrong, the pensioner must contact the concerned circle to get it updated.
