How to Claim the EOBI Old-Age Grant or Invalidity Pension in Pakistan: Rules and Documents

EOBI pays two benefits that most workers never hear about. The old-age grant is a one-time lump sum for a worker who reaches 60 (55 for women and mine workers) with between two and fifteen years of contributions, too few for a monthly pension. The invalidity pension is a monthly payment for a worker left permanently unable to work, provided contributions were paid for at least five years in total and three of the last five. Both are claimed on the same form at the EOBI regional office.

We read the benefits section of the Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) website and downloaded its old-age and invalidity pension application form, issued by the Karachi City Region, on 19 October 2026. EOBI's home page counts 73,126 old-age grants and 13,201 invalidity pensions among the benefits it has disbursed, against 258,297 survivor pensions, which tells you how rarely these two are claimed.

The old-age grant is for records of two to fifteen years, paid once

EOBI's page puts the rule in the words of the Act. An insured person not otherwise entitled to an old-age pension, who retires from insurable employment after reaching 60, or 55 for a woman or a mine worker, and for whom contributions were payable for less than fifteen years but not less than two years, is entitled to an old-age grant payable in a lump sum.

The fifteen-year line is hard. The Federal Constitutional Court said so in October 2026, in a case where a worker with a shorter record had already taken an old-age grant of Rs 48,000 in 2015 and later asked for a pension instead; we reported that ruling in the EOBI 15-year judgment. The grant is final. Taking it closes the pension question for that record.

EOBI's site does not publish the grant formula, so we do not state one. Ask the regional office for the calculation in writing before you sign the claimant's affidavit, which declares that you have never received any EOBI pension or grant before.

The invalidity pension needs five years paid, three of them in the last five

An insured person who sustains invalidity is entitled to an invalidity pension, says the page, provided that contributions were paid for not less than five years since entry into insurable employment, and for not less than three years during the five years before the month in which the invalidity occurred. EOBI's own summary describes the benefit as paid "in case of permanent disability".

Both conditions must hold. A worker with eight years paid in the 1990s and nothing since does not qualify, because the three-in-five test fails. A worker who paid steadily for the last four years also fails, because the five-year total is short. The pension, once granted, is monthly and the same Rs 11,500 floor applies.

Employers routinely stop paying when a worker falls ill, which is exactly when the three-in-five test is counted. Check the contribution history on the EOBI facilitation system before filing; our guide on how to check and claim an EOBI pension walks through the login and the record screen.

One form covers both: eleven fields, a delay box and an employer's certificate

The Karachi City Region form is headed, in Urdu, "application for old-age or invalidity pension" and is addressed to the Regional Head. It asks for your name and father's or husband's name, your current and old CNIC numbers, your spouse's name, full address, EOBI registration number, date of birth as on the service record and your age, the date you joined the EOBI scheme, the date your employment ended, the names of every establishment you worked for, the date of application and a mobile number.

Below that is the same "request for condonation of delay" box that appears on the survivor form, for claims filed more than a year late. Note that EOBI's benefits page says an old-age pension cannot be allowed more than six months retroactively, so a late claim does not recover the months before that.

The second page is a Certificate of Employers. Your last employer certifies that no old-age pension, grant, survivor or invalidity claim has been submitted for you through them before, undertakes to repay EOBI if that turns out to be wrong, states the month up to which contributions were deposited, and gives its EOBI registration number and sub code. Then comes your own sworn declaration of your employment dates and that you hold no other EOBI benefit.

Seven attachments, and nine more if the factory has closed down

The form's own checklist asks for seven attachments. All attestations are by a grade 17 or higher officer.

1. Three attested photocopies of your CNIC, both sides.
2. An attested copy of your spouse's CNIC; if the spouse has died, a death certificate or affidavit.
3. Four recent photographs, attested, three from the back of the print and one on the front.
4. A service certificate issued by the employer.
5. An age certificate issued by the employer.
6. The original EOBI registration card.
7. A salary schedule for the twelve months before employment ended; for service before 1983, the six months before.

If the establishment has closed, EOBI accepts original proof of employment in place of the employer's certificates: the appointment letter, a resignation or dismissal letter, the full and final settlement letter, any other document issued by the establishment, the service book, an affidavit about the employment, a social security card, or any other proof. Bring as many of those as you have; a closed factory is the most common reason a valid record goes unclaimed.

Workers who were never issued a registration card should first confirm that the employer registered them at all. The duty to register within 30 days of hiring, and the 6 per cent contribution, are set out in our page on how an employer registers a business with EOBI.

File at the region that holds your record and keep every receipt

Submit the form at the EOBI regional office where your last employer is registered. The form is counter-signed by the Assistant Director (BTS), the Assistant Director (A&A), the Deputy Regional Head and the Regional Head before payment, so ask for a diary number on the day you file. If the office turns the claim down, get the reason in writing, because the contribution record it relied on can be corrected and the claim filed again.

Do not sign the claimant's affidavit if any line is wrong. It declares your exact dates of service, that you worked nowhere else, and that you have never received an EOBI pension or grant. A false line there is the ground on which claims are reopened years later.

Common questions

What is the EOBI old-age grant?

A one-time lump sum for an insured person who retires at 60, or 55 for women and mine workers, with contributions payable for at least two years but less than fifteen. It replaces the monthly pension for short records.

Can I take the grant now and claim a pension later?

No. The grant is paid in place of a pension on that record, and the Federal Constitutional Court confirmed in October 2026 that a record under fifteen years does not carry a pension.

Who qualifies for the invalidity pension?

An insured person who becomes permanently unable to work, provided contributions were paid for at least five years in total and for at least three of the five years before the month of invalidity.

How much is the invalidity pension?

It is a monthly pension subject to the same Rs 11,500 minimum EOBI applies from January 2025, with the amount above that following the pension formula.

What if my employer has shut down?

EOBI accepts original documents in place of the employer's certificates: appointment letter, resignation or dismissal letter, final settlement, service book, social security card, an affidavit or any other proof of employment.

Is there a time limit?

Claims filed more than a year after the event need a delay condonation request on the form, and EOBI's page says an old-age pension is not allowed more than six months retroactively.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked 19 October 2026. The grant and invalidity conditions, the age thresholds, the six-month retroactivity rule, the Rs 11,500 minimum and the disbursement counts come from the benefits section and home page of the EOBI website, read on 19 October 2026. The form fields, the delay box, the employer's certificate, the claimant's affidavit and the attachment lists come from the EOBI old-age and invalidity pension form issued by the Karachi City Region. The grant formula is not published on the site and is not stated here. We could not verify the period the disbursement counts cover, because the page does not say.