WBIFMS e-Service Book: West Bengal state government employees and pensioners have recently started receiving urgent SMS alerts regarding their e-Service Book updates. The State Finance Department is pushing this initiative to get service records updated on the portal. This process has gained significant momentum following the Supreme Court’s verdict on the long-pending Dearness Allowance (DA) case.
The work is being carried out under Finance Department notifications No. 835-F(e-Gov) (dated 28th February, 2026) and No. 997-F(P2) (dated 13th March, 2026). Digital data from these e-Service Books is now essential to calculate the DA arrears for the 2008-2019 period.
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Which SMS did you receive?
Depending on your service status and retirement date, two different types of messages are being sent. Please check which one arrived on your phone:
For active employees and those retired in or after 2016: “You are requested to initiate your e-Service Book from your eSE login and forward it to your Custodian of service Book after filling up the details at the earliest. – WBIFMS”
For those retired before 2016: “Please contact your Pension Sanctioning Authority for creation of your HRMS ID, uploading of the scanned Service Book, and updating pay details in the e-Service Book for the period from 01/04/2008 to 31/12/2019. – WBIFMS”
Pending DA and New Government Directives
On 5th February, 2026, a Supreme Court bench consisting of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra ruled that receiving DA is a legal right of government employees, ordering the state to clear arrears for 2008-2019.
Following this, the government issued notification No. 997-F(P2) on 13th March, 2026. This order mandates that DA arrears for 2016-2019 be cleared in two installments (March 2026 and September 2026). Updating the e-Service Book is now mandatory to ensure these calculations are accurate.
Practical Challenges and Steps to Take
While this digitalization will make future tasks like pay fixation and pension settlements much easier, many employees are currently facing login issues due to high server traffic. Pre-2016 retirees face a bigger hurdle as there was no digital system back then, meaning they lack an HRMS ID. These individuals must coordinate with their Pension Sanctioning Authority (PSA) to generate their ID and upload their physical records manually.
For active employees and post-2016 retirees, here is the process:
- Log in to the eSE (e-Services for Employees) portal using your registered mobile number.
- Review the scanned copy of your Service Book uploaded by your custodian office.
- Go to the ‘e-Service Book’ section and carefully enter your employment and salary details.
- Once you have verified everything, forward the file online to your ‘Head of Office’.
- Since errors would require official intervention for correction, double-check all your data before clicking submit.
