5061-F(eGOV): WB Launches Smartphone Face Auth for Life Certificate

Government of West Bengal

Finance Department

e-Governance Group

Nabanna, 12th Floor

325, Sarat Chatterjee Road, Howrah-711102

Memo. No. 5061-F(eGOV) Date: 29/08/2023

Subject: Introduction of Submission of Life Certificate from Home by using only a Smartphone through Face Authentication for the Pensioners/Family Pensioners drawing Pension from Treasuries of West Bengal

In continuation of the Notification Number 5909-F(Y) dated 25 October 2019, the present forms of submission of life certificate by the pensioners/family pensioners are (i) submission of physical/hard copy of life certificate verified by the competent authority with his/her signature to the Treasuries or to the banks and (ii) submission of digital life certificate (DLC) on Jeevanpramaan Portal through Bio-metric device. In the first case either pensioners/family pensioners or their closed-ones have to appear before the Bank Branch or the Treasury for submission of physical/hard copy of life certificate and in the second case the pensioners/family pensioners have to physically present themselves either at the Treasury or the Bank Branch where the Bio-metric device facility is available.

The Government was considering from sometime past to introduce the facility for submission of DLC from home by using only a Smart Phone through Face Authentication without appearing at the particular Treasury or the Bank Branch. Accordingly the Governor is pleased to introduce the facility for submission of DLC from home by using a Smart Phone through Face Authentication in addition to existing facilities noted in point (i) and (ii) in the first paragraph.

In case of suspended PPO for not submitting Life Certificate timely, the pensioners/Family pensioner can submit Life Certificate in the modes of (i) submission of Physical/Hard Copy of Life Certificate to the Treasury (ii) submission of DLC through Bio-metric device (iii) submission of DLC from home by using only a Smart Phone through Face Authentication without appearing at the particular Treasury. Under normal circumstances the pensioners/family pensioners may use this newly introduced facility from 1st November 2023 and onwards in addition to existing facilities noted in point (i) and (ii) in the first paragraph.

User guideline for submission of DLC through Smart Phone is available under 'Guidelines' portion of IFMS Portal.

This order shall take effect from 7th September 2023 in respect of submission of DLC for suspended PPOs and for the normal circumstances the pensioners/family pensioners may submit DLC from 1 November 2023 onwards as usual. Necessary Amendments in the West Bengal Treasury Rule shall be made in due course.

Additional Chief Secretary to the
Government of West Bengal

GUIDELINE FOR SUBMISSION OF DIGITAL LIFE CERTIFICATE BY USING ANDROID PHONE/SMART PHONE THROUGH FACIAL AUTHENTICATION

Pre-requisites/Requirement:

• Android Smartphone (version 8.0 & above) (un-rooted device)
• Internet connection
• RAM - 4+ GB
• Storage - 64GB (Minimum 500 MB free storage space)
• Aadhaar number registered with Pension Disbursing Authority (Bank/Post Office/others)
• Camera resolution - 5 Mp or more

First of all the user of the mobile shall disable 'USB debugging'. Different mobile companies have different ways to disable 'USB debugging'. An example is given for the user of Edge 20 Motorola android phone: Go to Settings > About phone/Device > tap 7 times on build number > give pattern/password. Again go to Settings > Additional settings > Developer option > USB debugging > click to disable. If the user faces any difficulty disabling USB debugging, please search through Google for instructions specific to the phone's company and model.

Process:

1. Download and Install AadhaarFaceRd App from Google Play Store.
2. Download and Install Jeevan Pramaan Face Application.
3. Operator Authentication - This is a onetime process. The Pensioner can be the Operator as well.
4. Pensioner Authentication - Fill in the pensioner details and complete Aadhaar based Face Authentication of the Pensioner.

Detailed guidelines are also available in the Guidelines section of the IFMS portal.

App Installation: Search for 'Aadhaar Face Rd App' on Google Play Store, tap Install, then tap Open. The app will not be shown as an icon but will be visible under Settings > Apps > App management. Tap Open, then tap Install, then tap YES, and ALLOW the requested permissions as prompted.

Operator Registration: Enter Aadhaar No., Mobile Number and email address, then tap Submit. Enter the OTP sent to the registered mobile number and tap Submit. After entering the full name as per Aadhaar Card, the operator should tap the scan tab, tap YES, and ALLOW the requested permissions. After clicking the check box, tap Proceed.

Pensioner Authentication: Fill the Aadhaar number and mobile number mandatorily and tap Submit. Enter the OTP sent to the entered mobile number and tap Submit. Select from the dropdown Family or Others or Service as appropriate for pensioners/family pensioners. Select State Government of West Bengal from the dropdown of Sanctioning Authority. Select Disbursing Agency as State Government West Bengal-Treasuries from the dropdown. Choose the pension disbursing Treasury name from the dropdown of Treasury/Sub Treasury. Then enter PPO ID and Bank A/C Number of the Pensioner/Family Pensioner, click on the two check boxes and tap Submit.

Tap YES, then tap No. Tap the check box and tap SCAN, then tap YES.

For multiple submission of DLC through Face Authentication, the operator/user should tap YES, and a new page of pensioner authentication will open to fill in the next pensioner's details in the same manner. For single submission of DLC through Face Authentication, the operator/user should tap NO.

It is requested that all Pensioners/Family Pensioners share their Aadhaar Number and Mobile number with their respective Treasury for updating the Treasury database. Without updating the database in the Treasury, pensioners/family pensioners cannot avail the benefit of submission of Digital Life Certificate (DLC) through Bio-metric Device or submission of DLC through Face Authentication by Smart Phone.

Best Practices for Aadhaar based Face Scan:

1. Position - Adjust the camera at the right distance and posture for capturing the facial image.
2. Frontal pose needs to be captured, i.e., no head rotation or tilt. The Pensioner should be seated properly with their back upright and face towards the camera.
3. The face should be captured with a neutral (non-smiling) expression, teeth closed, and both eyes open and looking into the camera.
4. Illumination - Poor illumination negatively impacts face recognition performance. Proper and equally distributed lighting should be used so that there is no shadow over the face or in the eye sockets; light should be diffused and placed in front of the Pensioner.
5. Eye Glasses - If the person normally wears glasses, the photograph may be taken with glasses, but they should be clear and transparent; dark/tinted glasses should be removed before the photograph.

Some actionable feedbacks in the software are:

1. No face Found
2. Enrollee too far
3. Pose (Look Straight)
4. Insufficient lighting
5. Very low face confidence
6. Non-uniform lighting (of face in output image)
7. Incorrect background (in output image)
8. Insufficient lighting (bad grey values in face area of output image)