Afternoon joining date counts as qualifying service for migration from NPS to UPS.

The applicant, formerly a Gramin Dak Sevak Branch Postmaster, qualified in the 2015 Limited Departmental Competitive Examination for appointment to the Postman cadre.

He underwent prescribed training from 18.01.2016 to 27.01.2016 while receiving the TRCA applicable to his GDS post.

He was relieved from the GDS post in the forenoon of 01.02.2016 and joined as Postman, Kapaleswar Sub-Office, in the afternoon of the same day.

He was, however, paid Postman salary from 02.02.2016 and his qualifying service was treated as commencing from that date.

Upon opting to migrate from the National Pension System (NPS) to the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), his application was rejected on the ground that he had completed ten years of qualifying service short by one day, under Rules 13 and 15 of the PFRDA notification dated 19.03.2025.

The applicant challenged the rejection and sought counting of both the training period and 01.02.2016 towards qualifying service.

1. Whether the applicant’s training period from 18.01.2016 to 27.01.2016 was liable to be counted as qualifying service for determining his eligibility to migrate from NPS to UPS.

2. Whether the applicant’s service as Postman ought to be reckoned from 01.02.2016, when he joined the post in the afternoon, rather than from 02.02.2016, so as to satisfy the ten-year qualifying-service requirement for UPS migration.

The Tribunal applied the eligibility requirements under the Unified Pension Scheme, including Rules 13 and 15 of the PFRDA notification dated 19.03.2025, which required completion of ten years of qualifying service.

It considered the DoP&T Office Memorandum dated 02.10.2022, under which departmental training preceding regular appointment may count as qualifying service where the Government servant received pay in a pay scale, a stipend, or a nominal allowance; in other cases, counting of the training period depends upon a specific Government order.

The Tribunal also relied on the principle that the date of substantive appointment is the relevant date for service benefits, as recognised in Suresh Dubey v. District Inspector of Schools, (2004) 2 UPLBEC 1876, following Bahadur Singh Gaur v. D.I.O.S., Kanpur, 1995 All LJ 1292.

The applicant’s reliance on Rule 22 of the applicable pension regulations and the Government notification dated 02.10.2022 was considered in that context.

The Tribunal held that the training period could not be counted because the applicant had undergone training while on leave with substitute arrangement and continued to receive the TRCA attached to his GDS post, rather than pay in the Postman pay scale, a stipend, or a nominal allowance contemplated by the DoP&T Office Memorandum dated 02.10.2022.

The training therefore did not qualify under the stated rule.

However, the Tribunal distinguished the question of financial entitlement on 01.02.2016 from the question of commencement of service.

The applicant had been formally relieved from the GDS post in the forenoon and had joined the Postman post in the afternoon of the same date; that joining was undisputed.

Applying the principle that substantive appointment determines the commencement of service, the Tribunal concluded that payment of TRCA for that date could not negate the applicant’s actual joining and service as Postman on 01.02.2016.

Accordingly, the one-day shortfall was capable of being cured by treating 01.02.2016 as the commencement date for the limited purpose of UPS migration.

It nevertheless held that the applicant must be treated as having entered service as Postman on 01.02.2016, notwithstanding that he joined in the afternoon and received TRCA for that date.

The respondents were directed to count the applicant’s service from 01.02.2016 for the purpose of migration from NPS to UPS and to take appropriate action in accordance with the rules within 60 days of receiving the order, with intimation to the applicant.

The Original Application was disposed of, with no order as to costs.