CLAIM SETTLEMENT

(Deceased Depositor Claim Cases)

SAVINGS BANK ACCOUNTS

When the depositor dies, the proceeds can be paid to the Nominee or legal
heir, following the procedure for deceased depositor’s Claim cases as
discussed here under. In the case of Minor Accounts, whether opened by
the minor himself or by the guardian, when the minor dies it becomes claim
case.

The basis for claim settlement are:

A. Nomination
B. Legal evidence
C. In case of no nomination - without production of legal evidence up to a balance of
Rs.1 Lakh.
• S B Claim settlement on the basis of nomination

Application to be accompanied by Pass Book and death Certificate of depositor- if any

nominees have predeceased the depositor, death Certificate of such nominees also to
be attached.

The death certificate may be original or photocopy of original duly attested. The
sanctioning authorities may attest the copy after verifying with the original.

Once the intimation about the death of the depositor is received

in the Post Office, it is the responsibility of the Office to note a
remark in the Ledger, supply a claim application to the nominee
and to advise him to prefer the claim. An entry also is to be made
in the Register of claim cases.

If the nominee is a minor, the claim will be preferred by the person appointed by the
depositor-if no such person appointed, by guardian on behalf of the minor. No
payment can be made direct to the minor. The amount will be paid to the
appointed person or to the guardian for the use of minor.
 Claim Sanctioning Authorities on the basis of nomination

Name of the authority

Limit

1. SPMs in Time Scale Sub Offices Rs 1000

2 SPMs in LSG SOs Rs 2000

3 SPMs in HSG SOs Rs 5000

4 Head Postmasters Any amount

If there are more than one nominee, the nominees can make a joint claim or
separate claim (each nominee making claim his share). If there is more than one a/c
in the name of a person, separate claim is to be preferred.

THE LIMITS FOR THE VARIOUS AUTHORITIES MEANS:

For Savings Accounts and NSS-92 Accounts: balance in the account at the time of
death including the interest for the preceding financial year of death.

For RD Accounts: Amounts payable to the nominee or legal heir on the death of the
depositor have bee given in the Tables annexed to the RD Rules.

For TD/MIS Accounts: Principal amount plus interest accrued and unclaimed as on
the date of death of depositor.

If the balance (amount of claim) in an account standing at a Sub Office is above the
limit of a SPM, the same will be settled by the Head Postmaster.

Action on receipt of Claim application

An application with accompanying documents when received in a Sub Office is to be
impressed with a date stamp and forwarded to HO where the account stands- for
verification of balance and nomination and court attachment with H.O Records.

Even if the claim amount is within the limit of SPM, the application is to be
forwarded to the HO for verification of balance/nomination. In the case of
RD or MIS, balance is to be verified with SO ledger before forwarding to HO.
Action at the Head Office on receipt of claim application.
Balance and nomination particulars and whether there is any court attachment are to
be verified and claim forwarded to the Sub Postmasters if it is within their limit for
sanction. HO should also see that in case of accounts pledged as securities, the
pledge is to be released.

If the claim is to be settled by the H.O, Head Postmaster will scrutinize the
application and the death certificate and issue sanction immediately.

Nomination claim can be settled immediately on death.

Remarks on claim settlement are to be noted on ledger card, register of

Nominations, SB-3 and application for nomination if any.

If the nominee cannot produce the passbook, approval of the head of the circle is to
be obtained by the authorities.

Original sanction memo with passbook to be sent to the claimant by registered post;
One copy to the respective SPM, One to SBCO and One will be the office copy.

Verification of death certificate or fact of death is not necessary unless there is

reason to suspect its genuineness -this is applicable to claim settlement on other
basis like legal evidence and without nomination/legal evidence as well. A copy of the
SB Order no. Dated......………. on this subject is given as Annexure.

Payment of the claim

The claimant can take payment of the amount from the Office where the account
stands by surrendering the sanction memo and making application for closure in SB-
7-A with Pass Book.

Identity of the claimant will be established by any of the method of identification like
attestation.

Clarification regarding settlement of claim in favour of nominee.

The Post office is required to give precedence to the nominee over all other persons
staking claim on the amount when settling deceased claims cases and such payment
to the nominee absolves the Post office from all future liability in respect of the
deposit.

(DG Post letter No.105-26/93-SB dated 5.8.1994 and DG Post letter No.SBPG/Misc-
2/2006 dated 31.8.2006)
SB Claim settlement on legal evidence
If there is no valid nomination at the time of the death of the depositor, Claim can be
settled on production of legal evidence.

The legal evidences are: Probate of will; Succession Certificate & Letter of
administration

The power of various claim-sanctioning authorities is same as on the basis of

nomination. However, production of legal evidence is not necessary for claims not
exceeding Rupees ONE Lakh. In order to determine whether production of legal
evidence is necessary or not, balance of all the accounts including the interest up to
the end of the financial year preceding the year of claim and not year of death is to
be taken

Discretionary claim – Up to One lakh Who should claim?

One of the legal heirs can prefer claim after getting the consent Statements from
other adult claimants. In case of minor heirs, guardian of the minor will prefer the
claim or give the consent on behalf of the minor. The personal law of the deceased
depositor determines legal heirs.

Claim Application Form (SB- 84)

The claimant is to prefer the claim in the prescribed Form SB-84

All the SB Accounts without nomination (whether Savings Accounts, Recurring

Deposit, Time Deposit, Monthly Income Scheme and NSS-92 standing at different
Post Office in India ) in the name of the deceased should be shown in one
application only.

The total amount of the claim on this basis should not exceed Rs 1,00,000/-. If
exceeds the amount i.e., one lakh succession certificate is necessary. The form
should be accompanied with death Certificate of the deceased Depositor, Passbook
along with consent statements from other legal heirs if any.
Sanctioning Authorities and their power

Name of the Authority Limit (in

Rupees)

Time Scale Departmental Sub Postmasters 1000

Sub. Postmasters in LSG 2000

SPM/DPM/Postmasters in HSG (NON-GAZETTED) 5000

Deputy Postmaster /Senior Postmasters/ Deputy Chief 20000

Postmasters/ Superintendent of Post Offices / Deputy
Superintendent (ALL GAZETTED)

Chief Postmasters in Head Offices, Senior 50000

Superintendents (All Gazetted Group-A)

Regional Director/ Director (GPOs in Mumbai and 75000

Kolkata)

Chief Postmasters General / Postmaster General 100000

(Headquarter and Region)

Note;

• For the purpose of the limits, the amount at credit at the time of death of the
depositor plus interest accrued up to the preceding financial year of death is
to be taken.
• For PPF and SCSS claims sanctioning authority is Postmaster of Office of
deposit

Claims in respect of Sub-Post office Accounts in excess of the limit of Rs.5000/ will
not be settled by the Head Postmasters (Non Gazetted) but by the Divisional
Superintendent or higher Officers within their limits.

Senior Postmasters can settle the Sub Office Claims in excess of the limit of Sub
Postmasters..

Eg: A claim for Rs 3000/- in respect of a savings Account in a Time Scale SO under a
non-Gazetted HO will not be settled by the HPM but by the Divisional Superintendent
only. If the SO is under the Gazetted HO, the Senior Postmaster of the H.O can
settle the claim.

If the claim includes accounts standing in different Post Offices, any of the
authorities having power to settle the total amount and having at least one account
in a Post Office under his jurisdiction can settle the entire claim.

Eg: The deceased depositor had one Savings Account with Rs 1800/- at Trivandrum
Head Post Office and another TD Account with Rs 20,000/- at Mysore HO. The claim
can be settled either by the Senior Superintendent of Pos of Trivandrum or Mysore.

[If the claimant cannot produce the passbook, the authorities can waive the
production of passbooks within their limit on being satisfied about the reason
adduced by the claimant.]

Time limit for claim settlement

The claim without nomination or legal evidence can be settled only after three
months from the date of death the depositor.

Claimant's declaration on oath or solemn affirmation

If the claimant makes a declaration on oath or solemn affirmation before any claim
sanctioning authorities, the claim can be settled without any verification on any of
the statements in the claim form or on the documents accompanying.

This declaration can be made before any claim sanctioning authorities only.
Inspector of POs or Assistant Superintendent of Post Offices is not claim sanctioning
authorities and hence they cannot administer oath for the claimants. Normally the
claimants are making the declaration before the Sub Postmasters.

In order to make a declaration before the claim sanctioning authorities, it is not

necessary that the authority should be competent to sanction the claim for the
amount or one of the accounts should be in his Office or jurisdiction. Even a Class-
III Sub Postmaster can administer the oath for a claim for Rs 1,00,000/- even
though no account is standing in his Office.
Attestation of the claim in case no declaration made
If the claimant cannot make a declaration before any claim sanctioning authorities,
the claim is to be attested by any of the Prescribed authorities. In the Department of
Posts, an Officer not below the rank of an Inspector of Posts can attest the claim
form. (The form of attestation is just below the declaration in the SB-84)
The attesting authorities are required to attest all the documents accompanying the
claim form like copy of death certificate and consent statements.

If any authorities not belonging to the Department Of Posts attest the claim,
signature of the attesting authorities is to be verified by any of the Officials of the
Department of Posts. Even Sub Postmasters and Branch Postmasters are competent
to make such verification.

Once the claimant has made a declaration before the claim sanctioning
authorities, no further attestation is necessary.

Action on receipt of claim form at a Sub Office

Once the claimant has made a declaration on oath or submitted a claim duly attested
with the documents, the same should be impressed with the Office date stamp and
sent to the Head Office (where the account stands) for verification of balance and
also to verify the court attachment if any.

If there are more than one accounts, balance of all the accounts are to be verified by
the respective Head Post Offices and thereafter the claim sent to the competent
authority for issue of sanction.

Issue of sanction
The sanctioning authority will scrutinize the application to see that:

Particulars of all the accounts are correctly entered and the balance verified by the
Head Postmaster. It should also be seen whether there is any court attachment
against any of the accounts.

Near relatives shown in the claim form are eligible as per the personal law.

A death certificate issued by the competent authority accompanies the claim and it is
in order. No verification of the death certificate or of the fact of death is necessary
unless there is reason to suspect its genuineness.

Consent statements from all the adult near relatives accompany the claim application
- in the case of minor relatives guardian is to give the consent.

Whether the claimant has made a declaration before a claim sanctioning authority.

If no declaration is made, whether the prescribed authorities have attested the

claim.
 Whether the authority himself is competent to settle the claim (in terms of the
amount and also jurisdiction on the accounts) whether three months have elapsed
after the death of the depositor.

If any defect of consequence is noticed, the authority will address the claimant direct
to complete the documents, giving necessary guidance. Raising objections of trivial
nature and unnecessary verification should be avoided in order to settle the claim
expeditiously.

After scrutiny the authority will record the decision and issue sanction in the
prescribed format. The authorities may waive production of passbooks and issue
sanction without the order of the Head of the Circle if they are satisfied about the
reason for not production.

The claimant will be entitled to interest up to the end of the month preceding the
month of payment.

Payment of the claim amount

The claimants have to take payment of the amount from the respective Post Offices
as in the case of nomination claim.

Validity period of claim sanctions

The claim sanction will be valid for one year from the date of issue, after that; the
same is to be revalidated by the sanctioning authority at the request of the claimant
(with the original sanction) explaining the reason for not taking payment.

Payment of Claim in respect of RD/TD

In the case of RD or TD Accounts, it is not incumbent upon the claimants to take
payment of the amount immediately. They can take payment on the maturity of the
accounts. They may also get the accounts transferred to their names on making
application in the prescribed form provided the claimants are not more than two.

Disposal of Sanction Memo and the pass book

The claimant will present the original sanction memo with the passbook and
application for withdrawal. The payment will be made as in the case of closure of
account. The Postmaster will record a remark " payment made to claimant on.."
under his dated signature with designation stamp on claimant's copy of sanction
which will be attached with the warrant of payment and sent to the Control
Organization.

Claim in respect of MIS Accounts

In the case of death of a depositor before maturity, the nominee or legal heir is not
entitled to continue the account and claim monthly interest. The same is to be
closed and the amount of deposit refunded to the claimant with interest up to the
end of the month preceding the month of payment (up to a maximum of 72
installments of interest including the interest already paid to the depositor). There
will not be any penal deduction of the principal amount. When the MIS accounts is
 closed after 6 years such accounts are eligible for bonus-whether it is closed by the
depositor or the nominee. The preceding month for MIS is not preceding calendar
month but completed month.

Payment of claim amount by cheque or money Order

If the claimant desires in writing, the amount may be remitted to him by money
order at his expense or by crossed cheque in case the amount is not less than Rs.
100/-.

The claimant may have to give the sanction memo, application for withdrawal duly
completed and the passbook with a request for remitting the amount by MO/Crossed
Cheque at a Sub or Head Office where at least one of the accounts stands. After
verifying the documents and identity of the claimant the documents will be
forwarded to the respective Post Office for issue of Money Order or cheque. (in the
case of a Sub Office, the cheque will be obtained from the Head Office)

The cheque will be sent to the SPM or Head Postmaster of the place where the
claimant resides for delivery to him under quittance. The acquittance for the cheque
will be sent to the HO issuing the cheque, which in turn will forward to the SBCO.

Maintenance of the register of deceased claim cases

All claim sanctioning authorities should maintain the register.

As soon as the intimation of the death of the depositor is received, a claim

application is to be supplied and an entry to be made in the Ledger and the Register.

The claim will be treated as pending till the amount is paid to the claimant.

The Register is to be reviewed by the Head of Office every month to see that no case
is unduly delayed.

A summary of the pending cases with break-up showing action taken for the
settlement of delayed cases also to be given at the end of every month.

SAVINGS CERTIFICATES
Claims relating to Savings Bank accounts and Savings Certificates are to be preferred
separately as the powers for their claim settlement are conferred on the authorities
as per different statutory rules.

Basis for claim settlement in Certificates are the same as in the case of Savings
Bank. The changes in the matter of claim sanctioning authorities, their power etc. is
discussed below.

Nomination claim

The nominee is to make the claim in the Form available in the SB Manual Volume II
to the Postmaster / Sub Postmaster of the Office at which the Certificates stand
registered. If there is more than one nominee all the nominees may have to
make a joint claim. If there are Certificates registered at different Offices and the
nominee(s) are the same, application claiming all the certificates may be submitted
in any one office where at least one of the Certificate stands registered. The
application form should be accompanied by Death certificate of the deceased holder
and Death Certificate of the predeceased nominees if any.

Sanctioning authorities and their powers

Head Postmasters and Departmental Sub Postmasters are competent to settle
Certificates claims on nomination irrespective of the amount of the claim. In as
much as the Sub Postmasters (including SPMs of Time Scale Sub Offices) can settle
nomination claims of any amount in respect of certificates registered in Sub Offices.
Head Postmaster will not have jurisdiction in SO claims as in the case of Savings
Bank claims.

Option for immediate encashment or encashment after maturity

If the holder of the certificate dies before maturity of the certificates, claimants -
nominees or legal heir have the option either to encash the certificates immediately
on the settlement or to continue the same till maturity in the name of the deceased
holder.

If the nominee/legal heir is not more than one, he can also opt for getting a
duplicate certificate issued in his name (in the same denomination with original date
of issue). For this he may have to submit the prescribed application in NC-34 once
the claim is settled.

If there are only two adult claimants they may opt for duplicate certificate in there
names-either Joint A Type or Joint B Type.

If there are two or more nominees, they have the option to subdivide the certificate
and have fresh certificates issued in their individual names in appropriate names.

Procedure for settlement

On receipt of claim application, the Sub Postmaster/ Head Postmaster will verify the
claim with the Nomination register and also examine the death certificate to see that
it has been issued by the proper authority, it bears the seal and signature of the
authority and the name of the holder as per the original application and the death
certificate agree. If the claim is in order the authority will issue the sanction
immediately. The sanction should contain the provision for option that may be
exercised by the claimant. A note on claim settlement may have to be made in the
original application and also in the Nomination register.
 Verification of the death certificate or enquiry about the fact of
death is not necessary unless there is reason to suspect its
genuineness. Also, sanction in respect of nomination claim
settlement can be issued immediately.

If the certificates stand registered at different Offices, nomination and other

particulars like court attachment, payment after issuance of duplicate etc. may have
to be verified from the respective offices before issue of the sanction.

The Certificates submitted by the claimant along with the claim application may be
returned to the claimant after verifying the particulars noted on the application.
Certificates need not be retained by the claim sanctioning authorities as in the case
of Savings Bank claim where the claimants have to make over the passbook. In the
case of certificate claims, if the claimants are not in a possession of the certificates,
they may have to apply for and obtain duplicate certificates (after furnishing
indemnity bond with sureties wherever necessary) after the claim is admitted.

Encashment by the claimants

The nominees or claimants can take payment of the certificates from the office of
registration on presentation of the certificates duly receipted on the reverse along
with his copy of the sanction memo. The payee (claimant) may have to be
identified by a respectable person known to the Post Office. Other methods of
identification like passport or driving license in the name of the claimant also can be
accepted for this purpose. The Postmaster will record a remark - "Payment made to
the claimant on……….." under his dated signature with designation on the claimant's
copy of the sanction and the same will be attached with the discharged certificate.
If the certificates stand registered at different Post Offices, payment in respect of all
the certificates can be obtained from the Office, which had issued the sanction (after
verification of the issue particulars from other offices originally). Once the
certificates are taken payment from an office other than the office of registration, the
paying office may have to intimate the discharge of the certificates to the office of
registration by an Advice of Payment.
If the claimants opt for getting the certificates transferred to their name, they have
to submit the prescribed application for that along with the prescribed fee for
transfer. Fee for transfer of NSC: Rs.5/- per certificate. for KVP-no fee.
Payment can be made by means of crossed cheque or by money order as in the case
of Savings Bank claim. The sanction for claim will be valid for a period of one year
from the date of issue.
Claim on the basis of legal evidence
The power of Sub Postmasters of the Time Scale Sub Office for the claim settlement
on the basis of legal evidence is only up to Rs 1000/- as in the case of SB Claims.
The Divisional Head will settle claim relating to Certificates registered at Time Scale
S.O in excess of the limit of the SPM.

SPMs of LSG Sub Office and above have powers to settle claims of any amount if it is
supported by legal evidence.

Claims without nomination or legal evidence (Discretionary claims) up to

Rs.1 Lakh
Claim is to be preferred in the prescribed form SB-84. All the Savings Certificates
without nomination wherever they are registered should be shown in one application.

If the value of the certificates without nomination (including the accrued interest up
to the completed year as on the date of death of the holder) of any type of
Certificates viz. NSCs and KVPs taken together exceeds Rs 1,00,000 /- legal
evidence will be necessary for the settlement of those certificates.

Power of various Claim Sanctioning authorities on the discretionary claims is as in

the case of Savings Bank Claim as shown below.

Sanctioning Authorities and their power

Name of the Authority Limit (in

Rupees)

Time Scale Departmental Sub Postmasters 1000

Sub. Postmasters in LSG 2000

SPM/DPM/Postmasters in HSG (NON-GAZETTED) 5000

Deputy Postmaster /Senior Postmasters/ Deputy Chief 20000

Postmasters/ Superintendent of Post Offices / Deputy
Superintendent (ALL GAZETTED)

Chief Postmasters in Head Offices, Senior 50000

Superintendents (All Gazetted Group-A)
 Regional Director/ Director (GPOs in Mumbai and 75000
Kolkata)

Chief Postmasters General / Postmaster General 100000

(Headquarter and Region)

Claims in respect of Certificates of Sub Offices exceeding the power of SPMs will be
settled by the Divisional Heads / DPS/PMG within their power.

Claim will be admitted after verification of the issue particulars from the Offices of
Registration and after making a declaration by the claimant before any claim
sanctioning authorities as in the case of SB Claim. If the claimant does not make a
declaration any Gazetted Officer etc. as in the case of Savings Bank claim should
attest it. Claim without nomination or legal evidence will be sanctioned only after a
period of three months from the date of death of the holder. All other procedure is
just like nomination claim settlement.

PUBLIC PROVIDENT FUND ACCOUNTS

The provisions contained in Para 12 of PPF Scheme 1968 govern claim Settlement
relating to Public Provident Fund.

The claim Sanctioning Authority is Postmaster of Office where the account stands
open.

The basis for the claim may be on nomination, legal evidence or without nomination
and legal evidence up to a balance of Rs 1 lakh i.e., in the case of accounts without
nomination, production of succession certificate need not be insisted for, if the claim
up to Rs 1 lakh.
On the death of the subscriber, balance in the PPF account does not cease to earn
interest. Interest is admissible till the end of the month preceding the month in
which payment of deposits is made to the nominee/legal heir of the deceased
subscriber as in the case of SB Claim.

Nomination claim
The nominee or nominees may make an application in the Form G or as near
thereto as possible to the Head Postmaster with the following documents:

Death certificate of the subscriber.

Pass Book

Death Certificate of the deceased nominee (s) if any.

On receipt of claim application, the balance in the account will be paid to the
nominee/s after making adjustment, if any, in respect of interest on the loan taken
by the subscriber. If nominee is a minor, the amount may be paid to the parent or
guardian of the minor.
 Claim without nomination
Where there is no nomination in force, the balance after adjustment, if any, in
respect of the interest on loans taken by the subscriber may be refunded to the legal
heirs of the deceased subscriber after getting an application in Form G. If the
balance is up to Rs 1 lakh the relevant documents are to be produced along with the
application.

G.L. Dept. of Posts, Lr. No. 113-b/2003-SB, dated 20-4-2004

Delay in settlement of deceased claim cases on account of

of death certificate issued by Competent Authority

The Directorate has been receiving complaints of delay in settling deceased claim of
POSB/POSC due to verification of documents. Vice Directorate's Letter No. 79-29/88-SB,
dated 15-5-1988, it was clarified that the genuineness of the death certificates may be got
verified by the local authorities themselves except where genuineness cannot be verified
locally. The death certificate produced by the claimants, where found certified by the
Competent Authority, should be accepted for settlement of the deceased claim cases.
Over the period of time, it has been noticed that delay in settlement of deceased
claim cases continues. In order to mitigate the inconvenience to the claimants, it is
reiterated that the sanctioning authority while observing the guidelines issued vide this
Office Letter No.35-3 8/90-SB, dated 21-1-1991 may accept the death certificate issued by
the competent authorities mentioned in this office Letter No. 12-5/70-SS, dated 11-5-1970.
Verification of Death Certificate given in original or certified by the Competent
Authority should be necessary only when there is a doubt about the genuineness of the
certificate. In all cases, the claimant may be made to sign the certificate before admitting
the claim and payment made only after the identity of the claimant is established.
Above instructions may be brought to the notice of all concerned. Any delay in the
settlement of deceased claim cases beyond 30 days after submission of complete claim
should be viewed seriously.