Uttar Pradesh Old Age Pension Scheme (Vridhavastha Pension)

What is the Uttar Pradesh Old Age Pension Scheme?

The Uttar Pradesh Old Age Pension Scheme, called Vridhavastha Pension or Vridha Pension locally, is a monthly cash pension run by the Department of Social Welfare, Government of Uttar Pradesh through the Integrated Pension Portal at sspy-up.gov.in. According to the department's scheme page, "people of 60 years or above will be given a pension amount of Rs 1,000 per month on a quarterly basis", and the entire process from application to disbursement is online.

The scheme is the state's largest single social security transfer. The old age pension dashboard on the portal for financial year 2025-26 shows roughly 67,50,000 pensioners paid in each of the first three quarters, with about Rs 2,024 crore, Rs 2,037 crore and Rs 2,095 crore transferred in those quarters respectively. Dividing the quarterly outgo by the number of pensioners gives the Rs 3,000 per quarter figure that corresponds to Rs 1,000 a month.

The pension combines the central National Old Age Pension component of the National Social Assistance Programme with a state top-up, which is why the portal is titled राष्ट्रीय वृद्धावस्था पेंशन योजना (National Old Age Pension Scheme). For the applicant it makes no difference: one application, one sanction, one credit.

Uttar Pradesh runs three pension streams on the same platform, old age pension, destitute women (widow) pension, and divyang and leprosy pension. Each has its own eligibility page and its own login, and a person can draw only one of them.

Who is eligible for the UP old age pension?

You can apply if:

• You are a permanent resident of Uttar Pradesh.
• You are 60 years of age or above. The portal's eligibility panel records the minimum age as 60 and the maximum as 150.
• Your annual income from all sources is up to Rs 46,080 in a rural area or up to Rs 56,460 in an urban area.
• You hold a bank account in your own name that can receive DBT payments.
• You have an Aadhaar number that can be seeded to that account.

You cannot apply, or are not eligible, if:

• You are below 60 years of age. Younger destitute women and persons with disability must use the widow pension or divyang pension streams instead.
• You are already benefiting from another pension scheme. The eligibility page states this as an explicit disqualification, so a government service pension, a family pension, a widow pension or a divyang pension rules you out.
• Your income exceeds the rural or urban ceiling above.
• You are not a resident of Uttar Pradesh, or you are applying from a district where you do not live.
• You cannot produce age proof establishing that you have crossed 60.

There is no caste, religion or gender restriction. Men, women and transgender applicants are all covered, and the portal publishes gender-wise pensioner counts every quarter.

What documents are needed for the UP old age pension?

Get the income certificate first. It is issued by the tehsil against an application on the e-District platform, has a validity period, and is the single document that most often holds up a pension file.

How to apply for the UP old age pension online

1. Open sspy-up.gov.in and select राष्ट्रीय वृद्धावस्था पेंशन (National Old Age Pension) from the menu on the home page.
2. Under the आवेदक (Applicant) block, click ऑनलाइन आवेदन करें (प्रथम बार) — "apply online for the first time". Applicants who have registered before should use आवेदक लॉगिन instead.
3. Fill in the personal details: name, father's or husband's name, date of birth, gender, category, district, tehsil, block or ward, and full address.
4. Enter your Aadhaar number and your bank details; account number, IFSC code and branch name. The account must be in the applicant's own name.
5. Upload the required scans: passport size photograph, income certificate, age proof, Aadhaar and bank passbook.
6. Submit the form and save the registration number shown on screen. Print the acknowledgement.
7. Take the printed form with original documents to the District Social Welfare Office if the office asks for physical verification. Field verification is done by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate or the Block Development Officer, both of whom have their own logins on the portal.

How to apply offline or with assistance

1. Visit the District Social Welfare Office or your block development office with all original documents and photocopies.
2. Ask the dealing assistant (पटल सहायक) to complete the online registration for you. Every offline submission is entered on the same portal, because the scheme has no paper-only route.
3. Alternatively use a Jan Seva Kendra or Common Service Centre, paying only the notified typing and scanning charge.
4. Collect the acknowledgement carrying the registration number so you can track the file later.

How much pension is paid and when?

The pension is Rs 1,000 per month, released quarterly as Rs 3,000 by Direct Benefit Transfer into the pensioner's Aadhaar-seeded bank account. There is no cash counter and no cheque.

The portal publishes a quarter-by-quarter distribution summary. For 2025-26 it records four instalments, with the first three each paid to about 67.5 lakh pensioners and the fourth in progress at the time of checking. Pensioner lists are also published year by year, going back to 2015-16, so a family can verify whether a name was included in a particular year's payment run.

The pension is not paid on a fixed calendar date. Each quarter's release depends on the state's fund release and on the district's verified list being closed, so credits within a quarter can arrive weeks apart across districts.

How to check your pension status

1. Open sspy-up.gov.in and go to the National Old Age Pension page.
2. Use आवेदक लॉगिन with your registration number to see the stage of your application.
3. For payment, open the पेंशनर सूची (pensioner list) for the relevant financial year and locate your district, then your block or ward, then your name.
4. If your name appears but the money has not arrived, check with your bank whether the account is dormant or the Aadhaar seeding has lapsed.

Why UP pension applications and payments fail

• Bank account inactive or not NPCI/Aadhaar seeded. The portal runs a standing scrolling notice asking pensioners to complete NPCI and Aadhaar seeding and to keep transacting so the account does not go dormant.
• Income certificate above the limit or expired.
• Age proof not accepted because the document shows an age below 60 or the date of birth conflicts with Aadhaar.
• Already drawing another pension, detected during de-duplication.
• Name mismatch between Aadhaar, the bank account and the application.
• Verification not completed by the SDM or BDO, which leaves the file pending rather than rejected.

Most of these are curable. Log back in with your registration number, correct the field or re-upload the document, and follow up at the District Social Welfare Office.

Where to get help or complain

• Social Welfare helpline: 14568.
• Directorate of Social Welfare: 0522-3538700, Prag Narayan Road, Butler Colony, Lucknow 226001; email director.sw@dirsamajkalyan.in.
• District Social Welfare Officer for anything about a specific file.
• UP Jansunwai at jansunwai.up.nic.in for a tracked written grievance.

Applying is free. No lekhpal, pradhan, agent or bank staff member is entitled to a share of the pension, and no official will ever ask for your OTP.