Islamabad: The federal government has set the duration of family pensions for deceased employees at 10 years, in an effort to alleviate the growing burden of pension payments.
Additionally, the duration for special family pensions has been set at 25 years. However, if the child of a deceased retired employee is disabled, they will receive family pension for life.
According to documents available to media, Ministry of Finance issued three office memorandums on Tuesday detailing significant amendments to the pension scheme.
These changes were made based on the Pay and Pension Commission’s 2020 recommendations.
The first office memorandum issued by the Ministry of Finance regarding special family pensions states that the Pay and Pension Commission’s 2020 recommendations have been implemented by the government.
Under the new guidelines, the duration of family pensions for martyrs is set at 25 years. However, if the child of a deceased pensioner is disabled or a special child, they will receive family pension for life.
The memorandum also specifies a 50% increase in family pensions for armed forces and civil armed forces.
This increase will apply to the last pension amount received by the first pensioner and will be applicable to all ranks in these forces, without minimum or maximum limits, and will be transferable to all eligible heirs.
The second office memorandum from the Ministry of Finance sets the duration of regular family pensions at 10 years.
However, if the child of the deceased pensioner is disabled or a special child, they will receive the pension for life. If the eligible child is underage, the pension will be provided until the child turns 21 or for 10 years, whichever period is longer.
The third office memorandum introduces penalties for voluntary retirement.
Voluntary retirement can only be taken after completing 25 years of service, and pensions will be reduced by 3% annually until the retirement date or until reaching the designated retirement age, with a maximum reduction cap of 20%.
According to the memorandum, penalties for early retirement will apply to armed forces and civil armed forces employees if voluntary retirement is taken before the completion of the designated rank service.