BISP Eligibility Check: PMT Score and NSER Explained

A BISP eligibility check tells you whether your household currently qualifies for the Benazir Income Support Programme. This guide explains how eligibility is decided, the PMT score, the NSER survey, how to check your status by CNIC, and how to update your record if the answer is no.

It helps to know one thing first. Checking your status and being decided eligible are two different things. The check shows the result; the decision is made from a survey and a score. Understanding both is the key to a useful BISP eligibility check.

How to do a BISP eligibility check by CNIC

You can do your BISP eligibility check in two free ways:

1. Online at the official portal 8171.bisp.gov.pk, by entering your 13-digit CNIC and the captcha code.
2. By SMS, by sending your 13-digit CNIC, without dashes, to 8171.

Both methods read the same record, so the result is the same. For the full walkthrough and what each result means, see our guide on how to check BISP 8171 online. Remember that 8171 is the only official number, so ignore any other number that claims to check or register you.

How eligibility is decided

Your eligibility comes from two things working together:

• The NSER survey (National Socio-Economic Registry), BISP’s record of your family’s details.
• The PMT score (Proxy Means Test), a poverty score worked out from that survey data.

BISP scores each household on a scale from 0 to 100, and a lower PMT score means greater need. For Benazir Kafaalat, BISP’s main cash stipend, the BISP Board set the cut-off at 32 in September 2021. For a family with a person with a disability, the cut-off is 37. As of September 2026, these are the figures on BISP’s Kafaalat page. Your own score is not shown publicly. Be careful of any website that claims it can tell you your PMT number or change it for a fee.

Where the NSER data comes from

BISP’s own account of the registry explains why your record matters so much:

• The first nationwide survey, in 2010 to 2011, visited about 27 million households door to door.
• An updated survey collected data from about 35 million households, with most field work between 2019 and 2021.
• BISP is now moving the NSER to a dynamic registry, so records can be updated more often instead of waiting years for the next big survey.

If your family was missed in those surveys, or your details have changed since, the registry may not reflect your real situation. That is the most common reason for a result that feels wrong.

If your CNIC is not found, or you are eligible but unpaid

Two other results confuse many families:

• CNIC not found. This usually means your household has not been surveyed yet. BISP says any adult member of the household can go to the Benazir Registration Desk in the nearest BISP Tehsil office for the survey, and it is free. Our BISP registration guide explains the steps.
• Eligible, but no money yet. BISP says that from July 2026, its payments go into a digital wallet linked to a free Benazir SIM, which you collect from your BISP office. If you are still not paid, go to your Tehsil office with your original CNIC or call the BISP helpline 0800-26477. Our 8171 guide covers payments in more detail.

Who is eligible for Benazir Kafaalat

BISP’s official pages set out these rules for Kafaalat, its main cash stipend:

• Your household is registered in the NSER with a PMT score of 32 or below.
• If someone in your family has a disability, the cut-off is 37, so more of these families qualify.
• The money is paid to a woman of the household who is or has been married, with a valid CNIC. BISP’s registration guide calls her an “ever married female”.
• Transgender persons whose NADRA CNIC records their gender as transgender can be included after a successful survey and NADRA verification, without the PMT limit.

Other BISP programmes, such as Benazir Nashonuma for mothers and young children, have their own rules. Our Benazir Kafaalat guide covers the stipend amount and payments.

What about widows and divorced women?

You may read that BISP gives priority to widows and divorced women. BISP’s published criteria do not give them a separate cut-off or priority. The PMT score decides for them too. A widow or divorced woman can still receive Kafaalat, because she is a woman who has been married, if her household is within the cut-off.

What matters is that your record is correct. BISP checks the names, marital status, gender and disability status in its registry against NADRA’s records, and its registration guide asks you to update your CNIC with NADRA first. So if your husband has died, or you are divorced, update your marital status with NADRA before you update your household with BISP.

At the registration desk itself, BISP says persons with disabilities, pregnant women and senior citizens are served first in the queue. That is about waiting in line, not about who qualifies.

Who is usually not eligible

Some households are not eligible for this support:

• Government employees. BISP has said it put a bar on government employees receiving BISP benefits, and it uses data from government agencies to remove them.
• Better-off households. BISP also uses exclusion filters, such as owning a vehicle or frequent air travel, to screen out households that are not poor.
• Households above the cut-off. If your PMT score is above 32, or above 37 for a family with a person with a disability, you are not eligible for Kafaalat at the moment.

Even so, completing the NSER survey records your household, and your situation can be re-assessed later if it changes.

Why your BISP eligibility can change

Because the NSER is becoming a dynamic registry, your result can change if:

• Your household income or circumstances change.
• A member is added or removed from your household.
• Your earlier survey data was old or incomplete.

This is why a “not eligible” result today is not always permanent. Keeping your record current is the single most useful thing you can do.

If you are shown not eligible

If your result says you are not eligible but your situation has changed, you can update your household data through the NSER survey at the Benazir Registration Desk in your nearest BISP Tehsil office. BISP set up these desks at tehsil level to register missed households and update the information of households already surveyed.

• Bring your original CNIC, the CNICs of your household members, B-Forms for all your children, and a working mobile number.
• The officer asks about your household members, education, health, assets and income. Give true answers.
• There is no fee to update your data.
• Your eligibility is re-assessed from the updated information.

BISP has also said it plans more ways to update the registry over time, including a secure mobile app for self-service updates and mobile NSER registration vans for hard-to-reach areas. Until you see those announced for your area, the desk at your BISP Tehsil office is the route to use.

Our BISP ineligible reason guide explains what the 8171 message means and the exclusion rules BISP applies.

Keep your family record right first

BISP’s registry document lists the kinds of household changes it records, including births, deaths, marital status, and disability status. It also says children need a B-Form before they can be added to a household. So before you go:

• Get B-Forms for your children. Our birth certificate guide explains the Union Council certificate NADRA needs first.
• If someone in the household has died, get the Union Council death certificate so NADRA can update the record. See our death certificate guide.
• Make sure your own CNIC is valid and shows your current marital status. See our NADRA CNIC guide.

Common BISP eligibility myths and scams

• “A website showed me my PMT score.” Not possible. The exact score is private.
• “Widows are approved first.” False. The same PMT cut-off applies, so keep your record correct instead.
• “Pay an agent to become eligible.” False. Paying changes nothing, and asking for money is a sign of fraud.
• “A new number can check my eligibility.” Only 8171 is official. Ignore the rest.
• Never share an OTP or PIN with anyone. If someone asks for money or codes in BISP’s name, report it on the BISP helpline 0800-26477 or the Pakistan Citizen’s Portal.

Check what may fit your household

To see which Punjab and federal programs may suit your situation, try our free eligibility checker. It gives a general estimate and stores nothing. If you are not yet registered, read our BISP registration guide to learn how the NSER survey works.

GoPunjab is an independent information website. We are not BISP. We cannot decide your eligibility or change your record. We only explain how the system works so you can check and act correctly yourself.