ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — The Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) pays a quarterly cash stipend to millions of low-income families, and the quickest way to find out whether your household qualifies is through 8171, the programme’s official number. Here is how to check by SMS or online, how payments are collected, and how to avoid fake messages, based on BISP’s own guidance as of 14 November 2026.
Who can qualify
BISP chooses families using the National Socio-Economic RegistryBISP’s database of household surveys, known as the NSER. It records each family’s members, education, health, assets, and income, and is now open for new registrations all year round., a survey of households’ living conditions. Each household is given a score from 0 to 100 on a proxy means test, and a lower score means a poorer household.
The cut-off score for BISP’s core cash programme, Benazir KafaalatBISP’s unconditional cash transfer, started in 2008. Eligible families receive a stipend every quarter., is 32, and 37 for families with a differently abled member, according to the programme’s website. BISP’s board set those cut-offs in September 2021 and decides them on the basis of the money available.
In an eligible household, the payment goes to an ever-married woman with a valid CNIC, BISP says. Transgender people with a CNIC that records their gender as transgender can also apply after a survey at a BISP registration centre, under a policy approved by the programme’s board.
Check by SMS
- Open the messages app on your phone.
- Type your 13-digit CNIC number.
- Send it to 8171.
- Wait for the reply from 8171, which gives your household’s survey and eligibility status.
Check online
- Go to 8171.bisp.gov.pk, BISP’s 8171 web portal. The page is in Urdu.
- Choose the option to check your household’s eligibility.
- Enter your 13-digit CNIC number, or your survey form number, along with your mobile number and the code shown in the picture.
- Press the green button to see the result.
The same portal has a separate section for registering a complaint.
If there is no record of your CNIC
If 8171 has no record of your household, any adult member can go to the Benazir Registration Centre at the nearest BISP tehsil office for a survey, BISP says. Differently abled people, pregnant women, and older citizens are given priority in the queue.
- Take the original CNICs of the adults in your household and the B-Forms of all your children. BISP asks that every CNIC is up to date with NADRA, for example for marital status, widowhood, or disability.
- At the information counter, show a CNIC. You will be given a token for a new survey, or for an update if your household was surveyed before.
- At the data entry desk, answer the officer’s questions about your household’s members, education, health, assets, and income. BISP asks applicants to answer truthfully and to ask the officer to explain any question that is unclear.
- Give a correct, active mobile number, and keep your token receipt.
After the survey, 8171 sends a confirmation SMS to the number you gave. Eligible households may also receive a letter about the Kafaalat programme. You can check the result later on the 8171 portal, or ask at the BISP tehsil office.
How payments are collected
A woman who is declared a beneficiary receives an SMS from 8171. She then takes her original CNIC to a partner bank’s agent or retailer in her tehsil and receives her first payment after thumbprint verification, according to BISP. Later instalments can also be withdrawn from an ATM.
BISP’s programme page names HBL as its partner bank in Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan, and Bank Alfalah in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
BISP announced in January 2025 that it was raising the quarterly Kafaalat stipend from Rs10,500 to Rs13,500. That is the latest amount published on its website as of 14 November 2026, and any change is announced by BISP and through 8171.
How to spot fake messages
BISP says 8171 is its only official number, and that a message from any other number claiming to be from the programme is fraud. It also says there is no fee for the survey and no survey form to buy. Anyone asking for money to register you, or to release a payment, is not acting for BISP.
To complain, call BISP’s toll-free helpline, 0800-26477, visit your nearest BISP tehsil office, or use the complaint section of the 8171 portal.
Questions people ask
Do I have to pay to register?
No. BISP says the survey is free and no forms need to be bought.
Our circumstances have changed since our survey. What should we do?
Visit the Benazir Registration Centre at your BISP tehsil office. The centres were set up to survey households that were missed and to update the records of households that were already surveyed.
What happens if the beneficiary dies?
Under BISP’s next-of-kin policy, the family can apply at the BISP tehsil office with the deceased’s CNIC, a CNIC cancellation certificate from NADRA, a death certificate from the union council, and the CNICs of family members. After processing, the eligible next of kin start receiving the payments.
Can the money be collected at an ATM?
The first payment is collected in person after thumbprint verification. BISP says later instalments can also be withdrawn from an ATM, as well as from an agent or retailer.
Who decides whether a household qualifies?
Eligibility comes from the household’s proxy means test score in the survey. BISP’s board sets the cut-off score, and households at or below it qualify for Kafaalat.
