India's CPAO launches utility to allocate regular pension payment numbers for NPS-AR retirees

The Central Pension Accounting Office (CPAO) of India’s Ministry of Finance has introduced a new online utility to assign 12‑digit Regular Pension Payment Order (PPO) numbers to pensioners under the National Pension System – AR (NPS‑AR). The tool replaces provisional PPO numbers, streamlining the migration of pension cases from CPAO to authorized disbursing banks.

The Office Memorandum dated 31 July 2026 cites guidelines from the Controller General of Accounts and directs all principal CCAs, CCAs, CAs and AGs to ensure their Pay and Accounts Offices use the utility before forwarding cases for migration. Users log into the CPAO portal, select the “PPO Number Allocation Utility for NPS‑AR Pensioners,” enter the existing PPPO number, verify details and generate a new regular PPO number, receiving a confirmation on completion.