When children do not look after you: maintenance and protection

When children do not look after you: maintenance and protection
When children or relatives do not look after you: who to call in danger, how to ask the Maintenance Tribunal at the RDO's office for a monthly allowance, how eviction and appeals work.
For whom: Senior citizens (60 or older) in Telangana, parents of any age whose children do not look after them, and people helping them.
Published on 30-10-2026. Not every fact has been checked against its official source yet: confirm at the office.

In an emergency, call at once

📞 112
In danger now: police, ambulance and fire emergency (Dial 112, 24 hours)
📞 100
Police
📞 14567
Elderline: national helpline for senior citizens (free). Information, guidance, and help on the spot in cases of abuse.

For everyone

1.
Call Elderline on 14567 and tell them your problem. They give information and guidance free, and in cases of abuse they can come and help.
📞 Elderline: 14567
💰 Fee: Free
2.
If your children or carers abandon you anywhere, threaten you or beat you, give a complaint at the nearest police station. Abandoning a senior citizen is an offence under the Act, and the rules say the police must attend promptly to senior citizens' complaints.
🏛️ The nearest police station

Only if

What do you need? A monthly allowance from my children or relatives / I gave them property on the condition they look after me, and they do not
3.
Get the application form (Form A) from the Maintenance Tribunal at the RDO office.
🏛️ Maintenance Tribunal, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) office
📎 Application form (Form A, Maintenance Tribunal Application)
4.
Fill in the form: your details, the details of those you claim from, the help you need and what happened. If you want a monthly interim allowance until the decision, ask for it in the same form; no separate application is needed. You can claim against more than one child together.
✋ You do this yourself
📎 Application form (Form A, Maintenance Tribunal Application)

Only if

What do you need? I gave them property on the condition they look after me, and they do not
5.
In the form, also ask the Tribunal to declare void the transfer of property you made on the condition that they look after you.
✋ You do this yourself
📎 Application form (Form A, Maintenance Tribunal Application), Copies of the property papers
Not confirmed: The rules do not say plainly whether the same Form A is used to cancel a property transfer; ask the RDO office. This applies only to transfers made after the 2007 Act came into force.

Only if

Who is applying? Someone else, or an organisation, on their behalf
6.
If the senior citizen cannot apply themself, a person they authorise or a registered voluntary organisation can apply. Write your name, address and phone in part 4 of the form.
✋ You do this yourself
📎 A letter authorising the person or organisation applying for you

Only if

What do you need? A monthly allowance from my children or relatives / I gave them property on the condition they look after me, and they do not
7.
Give the filled form to the Tribunal at the RDO office where you live (or last lived), or where the children live: in person, by registered post or by email. Take the receipt (Form B) with the application number.
🏛️ Maintenance Tribunal, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) office
📎 Application form (Form A, Maintenance Tribunal Application)
Not confirmed: Neither the Act nor the rules we read name a fee for the application; ask at the office. For applying online, see the note on Form A.
8.
The Tribunal sends the children a notice and tells you the hearing date (Form D). Attend on that day. Neither side may bring a lawyer; if you wish, the district welfare officer (the Maintenance Officer) speaks for you. If both sides agree, the case goes to a Conciliation Officer, who tries to settle it within a month.
🏛️ Maintenance Tribunal, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) office
9.
Wait for the order. Telangana's rules say it is due within 90 days of the application being received; it can be extended once by 30 days, with reasons written down. The monthly allowance is at most ₹10,000, and no more than the other side's monthly income divided by the number of people in their family (counting you). You get a copy of the order free. The children must deposit the amount within 30 days.
🏛️ Maintenance Tribunal, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) office
💰 Fee: Free · The copy of the order is free
⏱️ within 90 days · From the day the application is received; once extendable by 30 days
Not confirmed: The central Act counts the 90 days from service of notice; Telangana's rules (G.O.Ms.No.40 of 2022) count from receipt of the application. A PIB explainer (28-10-2025) says the 2019 Amendment Bill removes the ₹10,000 ceiling, but we found no official sign that the Bill became law, and a February 2026 reply in Parliament still describes the Act as passed. The two rule documents were read from archived copies of January 2026.

Only if

What do you need? My children live in my house, do not look after me or ill-treat me, and I want them out
10.
Apply to your District Collector (District Magistrate) to have the children or legal heirs who do not maintain you, or who ill-treat you, evicted from your property.
🏛️ District Collector's office (Collectorate)
📎 Copies of the property papers
Not confirmed: We found no set form for this application in the rules; ask at the Collectorate. News reports mention court challenges to this rule (21(3)); we did not read an official copy of the High Court's decision.
11.
The Collector sends your application to the RDO within 15 days; the RDO checks the title and the facts and reports (within 60 days of the application). The Collector then gives those living there a notice of at least 10 days, hears them, and may order them to leave. If they do not leave within 30 days, they are evicted with police help and the house is handed back to you.
🏛️ District Collector's office (Collectorate)

For everyone

12.
For legal advice, contact the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA) in your district court complex, or call toll-free 15100.
🏛️ District Legal Services Authority (district court complex)
Not confirmed: The Legal Services Authority gives free legal services to weaker sections; ask them whether you qualify for free help.

Documents you need

If you don't have it:
Ask at the RDO office. The rules say forms should be available online and at panchayat, post, mandal parishad, tahsildar, RDO and Collector's offices and police stations.
Not confirmed: The CGG page says the online system (TSCMMS) takes applications; news reports give its address as tsseniorcitizens.cgg.gov.in, but it did not open on 30-10-2026. Ask at the RDO office.
Not confirmed: We found no set form for the authorisation in the Act or the rules; ask the RDO office what it should say.
Not confirmed: The Act and rules do not list the papers to attach; they say only that the RDO checks the title. This is our pointer; ask at the office.

If something goes wrong

If it is rejected
If you are not satisfied with the Tribunal's order, appeal within 60 days of the order to the Appellate Tribunal, headed by the District Collector. Attach a copy of the order to the appeal form (Form I). A late appeal can be taken if there was good reason. While the appeal goes on, the children must keep paying. The Appellate Tribunal is to try to decide within a month of receiving the appeal.
Appellate Tribunal (District Collector), Collectorate
If it is late
If there is no order after 90 days (120 if extended), ask the RDO office why it is late. Contact the District Welfare Officer (for the disabled, senior citizens and transgender persons) or Elderline on 14567.
Elderline
📞 14567
Not confirmed: The CGG page (describing the online system) says the RDO records a reason for any delay; we did not find this in the rules.
Also
If the children do not pay after the order, apply to the Tribunal within three months of the amount falling due. The Tribunal can issue a warrant to recover it, and can jail them for up to a month if they still do not pay.
Maintenance Tribunal, Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) office
Also
An appeal against the Collector's eviction order goes to the Commissioner/Director, Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Senior Citizens and Transgender Persons, Telangana, within 30 days of the order.
Commissioner/Director, Department for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, Senior Citizens and Transgender Persons, Hyderabad
→ Old-age pension (Cheyutha)→ Help for senior citizens→ Pensioner's life certificate (Jeevan Pramaan)→ RTI application (right to information)
Updated on 30-10-2026
Sahayam is not a government service. We take no applications, documents or money.
About Sahayam