PFRDA pledges to contribute to PM-CARES Fund to help fight COVID-19 outbreak

PFRDA
PFRDA pledges to contribute to PM-CARES Fund to help fight COVID-19 outbreak

01 APR 2020

The pension sector regulator Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has pledged to contribute a part of the employee’s salary to the Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) Fund, instituted recently under the guidance of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to assist and provide relief measures to the citizens of the country following the global outbreak of novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).

Alike other Government institutions, industry leaders, celebrities, individuals, PFRDA employees have decided to contribute part of their salary and PFRDA is committed to assist the government in its fight against the pandemic in India.

Shri Supratim Bandyopadhyay, Chairman PFRDA said “This is one of the most challenging period that our country is facing today. At this moment what matters most is sharing the responsibility of fight against coronavirus (COVID-19) in every way possible. The PFRDA is perceptive of the implications of this pandemic situation and would like to contribute towards the fight of this crisis”.

About PFRDA

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the statutory Authority established by an enactment of the Parliament, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the National Pension System (NPS) and pension schemes to which this Act applies. NPS was initially notified for central government employees joining service on or after 1st Jan 2004 and subsequently adopted by almost all State Governments for its employees. NPS was extended to all Indian citizens (resident/non-resident/overseas) on a voluntary basis and to corporates for its employees.

As on 31st March 2020, the total number of subscribers under NPS and Atal Pension Yojana has crossed 3.45 crores and the Asset under Management (AUM) has grown to Rs 4,17,478 crores. More than 68 lakhs government employees have been enrolled under NPS and 22 lakhs subscribers have subscribed to NPS in the private sector with 7,568 entities registered as corporates. More than 2.11 crores subscribers are presently covered under the GoI guaranteed pension scheme - Atal Pension Yojana.

PIB

Enrollment of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) in National Pension System (NPS)

Enrollment of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) in National Pension System (NPS)

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
B-14/A, Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhawan,
Qutub Institutional Area,
Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi-110016

No: PFRDA/2019/24/PDES/5

Date: 17th December 2019

Circular

Subject: Clarification - Enrollment of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) in NPS.

1. This is in continuation to the Circular No: PFRDA/2019/19 /PDES/3 dated 29th Oct, 2019 on the above subject whereby the Authority permitted Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to enroll in National Pension System (NPS) at par with Non-Resident Indians (NRI).
2. Based on the communication received from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), it is hereby clarified that Annuity payable by ASPs to NRIs and OCIs will be taxed at source, at rates applicable as per the DTAA (Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements) of the country where the annuitant resides.
3. Hence the intermediaries including Annuity Service Providers (ASPs) are required to display/ convey to the prospective and existing subscribers that ‘Annuities payable to NRI/ OCI are subject to TDS and ‘repatriation of the corpus, if any, will be subject to applicable laws and regulatory provisions of IRDAI/ PFRDA/ RBI in their relevant marketing materials / website(s) / brochures / communications.

Also check: Good news for NPS employees

Mono MG Phukon
(General Manager)

Any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident and OCIs (Overseas Citizen of India) are now eligible to join NPS

Any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident and OCIs (Overseas Citizen of India) are now eligible to join NPS

Ministry of Finance

PFRDA permitted now Overseas Citizen of India to enroll in NPS at par with Non-Resident Indians

30 OCT 2019

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has now permitted Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to enroll in National Pension Scheme (NPS) at par with Non-Resident Indians vide Circular No: PFRDA/2019/19/PDES/3 dated 29th October 2019. The Government vide notification S.O. 3732(E) dated 17th October, 2019 on Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 of Dept. of Economic Affairs, has specified that an OCI may subscribe to the National Pension System governed and administered by PFRDA, provided such person is eligible to invest as per the provisions of the PFRDA Act and the annuity/accumulated saving will be repatriable, subject to FEMA guidelines.

Contributions made towards NPS are eligible for an additional tax deduction under section 80CCD(1B) upto Rs. 50,000 which is over and above the Rs 1,50,000 limit of deduction available under sec 80CCD(1). In the Union Budget 2019, the tax exemption limit for lumpsum withdrawal on exit/maturity from NPS has been increased from the present 40% to 60% under section 10(12A) of the IT Act and the remaining 40% of the corpus is already tax-exempt as it is mandatorily utilized for annuity purchase.

About PFRDA:

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the statutory Authority established by an enactment of the Parliament, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the National Pension System (NPS) and pension schemes to which this Act applies. NPS was initially notified for central government employees joining service on or after 1st Jan 2004 and subsequently adopted by almost all State Governments for its employees. NPS was extended to all citizens of Indian on voluntary basis from May 2009 and to corporates in December 2011 and to Non-Resident Indians in October 2015.

As on 26th October 2019, the total number of subscribers under NPS and Atal Pension Yojana has crossed 3.18 crores and the Asset under Management (AUM) has grown to Rs. 3,79,758 crores. More than 66 lakhs government employees have been enrolled under NPS and 19.2 lakhs subscribers have subscribed to NPS in the private sector with 6,812 entities registered as corporates.

PFRDA in its endeavor to promote and develop NPS has taken several initiatives towards increasing the pension coverage in the country. Now, any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident and OCIs are eligible to join NPS till the age of 65 years.

Source – PIB

NPS - State government conference about benefits of National Pension System by PFRDA

NPS

NPS - State government conference about benefits of National Pension System by PFRDA

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

PRESS RELEASE

Conference on Implementation of National Pension System by State Governments

A conference on implementation of National Pension System by State Governments was organized by PFRDA on 10th Sept 2018 at IHC, New Delhi. The prime objective was to provide a forum to all State Governments, where the progress in the implementation of NPS with respect to compliance of timelines in various NPS related activities could be brought to the fore and a way forward could be provided. Higher officials from all State Governments attended the conference.

Also check: National Pension System (NPS) : PFRDA

Dr. Badri Singh Bhandari, Whole Time Member (Economics) in his opening address informed the state government officials about the features and benefits of NPS and various initiatives undertaken by PFRDA. He emphasised the use of online generation of PRAN, dashboard facility for effective monitoring of nodal officers and timely submission of subscriber registration forms and regular remittance of subscriber contribution. He reiterated about the issuance of guidelines by State Governments regarding procedure and timelines to be followed by State Governments for registration of new employees, upload of SCFs and remittance of the NPS contributions. He also touched upon the need of resolving pending grievances and withdrawals on priority by the nodal officers.
Sh. Ajay Narayan Jha, Secretary, Dept of Expenditure, Govt. of India in his address stated that the need of contributory system of pension arose due to the twin objectives to ensure fiscal prudence and secure old age income security in the country. Fiscally strong States are important for progress and development as the pension liabilities of the government has been increasing in terms of proportion of GDP. He advised participating State Governments to monitor the performance of NPS implementation with respect to timely completion of NPS related activities at nodal office level.

Read more on NPS - National Pension Scheme - CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES

Chairman, PFRDA, Sh. Hemant G. Contractor, emphasized on the need for the government officials to be aware of the determinants of pension. NPS, being a contributory and market driven scheme, is different from the earlier pension system in the government, which was a formula based PAYG (Pay As You Go) scheme. In NPS, pension is dependent on various factors, such as the contribution amount, period of contribution, regularity in remittances, returns on investment, withdrawals, deferment options and choice of annuity. He urged the State governments to adopt online PRAN generation Module (OPGM) and to ensure effective implementation and monitoring of NPS. He also urged State Governments to ensure extending choices similar to those available to non-government subscribers and also to frame Rules for the guidance of government staff handling NPS in the States.
Quite a few presentations were made by various stakeholders under NPS for the benefit of the participants. As on 31st August, 2018, 28 States have implemented NPS and there are 32.51 Lakh subscribers with asset under management of Rs 1,16,227.49 Cr.

Availing benefit of Additional Relief on Death / Disability of the Government Servant covered under NPS

NPS

Availing benefit of Additional Relief on Death / Disability of the Government Servant covered under NPS

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF FINANCE

DEPARTMENT OF EXPENDITURE

CENTRAL PENSION ACCOUNTING OFFICE

TAIKOOT-II,BHIKAJI CAMA PLACE,

NEW DELHI-110066

CPAO/IT&Tech /NPS Procedure/ 22 Vol-III/P.F./2019- 20/85-92

04.09.2019

Office Memorandum

Subject: Accounting Procedure for crediting the amount withdrawn by the pensioner from PFRDA and interest thereon in to Government Account for availing benefit of Additional Relief on Death/ Disability of the Govt Servant covered under NPS-reg.

Attention is invited to DP&PW OM. No. 38/41/06/P&PW(A) dated 05.05.2009 to be read with OM No. 28/03/2018-P&PW(B) dated 02.04.2018 wherein it is stated the “The Exit and Withdrawals under NPS regulations 2015 provides in para 6(e) that if the subscriber or the family members of the deceased subscriber, upon his death, avails the option of additional relief on death or disability provided by the Government, the Government shall have right to adjust or seek transfer of the entire accumulated pension wealth of the subscriber to itself. The subscriber or family members of the subscriber availing such benefit shall specifically and unconditionally agree and undertake to transfer the entire accumulated pension wealth to the Government, In lieu of enjoying or obtaining such additional reliefs like family pension or disability pension or any other pensionary benefits from such Government authority.” It is also stated in the OM dated 02.04.2018 that “the family of the deceased Govt. servant is entitled to family pension under old pension scheme, if they want to avail the benefits under old pension scheme. In this case the entire accumulated funds under NPS may be recovered from the family with interest However, the possibility to adjust the recovery of accumulated wealth from arrears of family pension may also be explored. “

References have been received from the Pay & Account Offices for accounting procedure for N PS corpus deposited by the pensioner/family pensioner or received from PFRDA.

O/o the CGA vide its U O no. 1(7)(2)/2010/Cla/TA/205 dated 05.08.2019 has suggested the accounting procedure for the amount of NPS corpus received from pensioner/family pensioner/ PFRDA as under:

•     The amount received may be deposited into the existing government account of the PAO concerned.
•     The receipt may be accounted for by crediting MH 0071- Contributions and Recoveries towards Pension and other retirement benefits, 01- Civil. Minor Head 101-Subscriptions and Contributions. A new sub-head ‘Accumulated Pension Wealth in respect of N PS subscribers’ may be got opened under the above head for the purpose, if already not opened.

All the Pr. CCAs/CCAs/CAs/ AGs/Administrators of UTs are requested to instruct concerned PAOs to follow the accounting procedure mentioned above.

Sd/-

(Md. Shahid Kamal Ansari)

(Dy. Controller of Accounts)

Source: CPAO

Setting up of NPS oversight mechanism - RAILWAYS

Setting up of NPS oversight mechanism - RAILWAYS

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(RAILWAY BOARD)

RBE NO.58/2019
NO.2014/AC-II/21/6 Vol.I

New Delhi, dated 22.07.2019

General Managers,
All Indian Railways/PUSs etc.

Sub: Setting up of NPS oversight mechanism

Timely credit of deduction made from the salary of Central Government employees towards their contribution to NPS along with the Government contribution is of paramount importance for availability of due and timely returns thereon towards generation of pension corpus. Department of Expenditure vide their letter no. 1(24)/EV/2016 dated 02.07.2019 has desired setting up of an oversight mechanism to ensure oversight over the NPS contributions crediting. Accordingly, Board has decided that monitoring Committees, comprising of the following officers may be formed on each Railway/Unit:

1. FA&CAO in charge of NPS - Convener
2. Dy. CPO in charge of Bills & Settlement - Member
3. Dy. FA&CAO in charge of NPS - Member
4. The Committee shall be responsible for the following actions:

i. Ensuring that the contributions of employees and the Government are credited without delay to the NPS financial architecture both in case of existing employees and employees newly recruited from time to time and the existing system and procedure being followed for the purpose shall be monitored effectively to ensure that no delay in credit of the contributions takes place.
ii. Ensuring that in case any grievance by any employee is received in regard to delay in credit of contribution, either directly from the employee or through PFRDA, the same has been looked into and disposed of in a manner to the satisfaction of the concerned employees.
iii. Any other matter as having a bearing on the issue of crediting/remittance of NPS contributions.
iv. The Committee shall devise its own mechanism as also appropriate checks and balances to ensure that NPS contributions are credited on time in respect of all employees under NPS system.
v. The Committee shall meet at least once in 3 months to review the progress and in case any slippages are notices, it shall take immediate corrective action. However, the concerned Principal FA and Pr. CPO shall keep a watch over the progress on a regular basis.

The Committee shall oversee implementation of the NPS system as per action points brought out above and send status report on quarterly basis by 5th of the month following each quarter (i.e.. 5th April, 5th July, 5th October and 5th January) highlighting the result of the monitoring with concluding remarks whether the NPS contributions are being credited on time and in case of any slippages, the details of action taken for the same.

The names of the officers nominated in the Committee may be advised to Railway Board along with their mobile no. and email id. latest by 25th July, 2019.

(Vijay Kumar)
Financial Commissioner (Railways)

PFRDA - Atal Pension Yojana

Ministry of Finance

Atal Pension Yojana

25 JUN 2019

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has submitted a proposal to increase the limit of pension and age under Atal Pension Yojana (APY). The same is under examination in consultation with PFRDA.

The number of beneficiaries under APY in last three years, State-wise, are as per Annexure A.
Atal Pension Yojana(APY) is open to all citizens of India between 18-40 years of age. Accordingly, Mudra beneficiaries, Self Help Group (SHG) members and Anganwadi workers who are citizen of India and fall between 18-40 years of age are eligible to join APY.

This was stated by the Union Minister of Finance & Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharamanin a written reply to a Parliament Question in Rajya Sabha today.

PIB

Pension Funds and Investment Pattern in Tier-I of NPS for Central Government subscribers

Pension Funds and Investment Pattern in Tier-I of NPS for Central Government subscribers

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

CIRCULAR

PFRDA/2019/12/ REG-PF/1

Date: 8th May, 2019

SUBJECT: Introduction of choice of Pension Funds and Investment Pattern in Tier-I of NPS for Central Government subscribers - reg.

Reference is invited to the Gazette Notification F.No.1/3/2016-PR dated 31 st January, 2019 issued by Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services, modifying Ministry of Finance's Notification No. 5/7/2003-ECB dated 22nd December, 2003, based on the Government's decision on the recommendations of a Committee set up to suggest measures for streamlining the implementation of National Pension System (NPS).

Accordingly, it has been decided to introduce the following options for Central Government subscribers:

(i) Choice of Pension Fund: As in the case of subscribers in the private sector, the Government subscribers shall also be allowed to choose anyone of the pension funds including Private sector pension funds. They could change their option once in a year. However, the current provision of combination of the Public-Sector Pension Funds will be available as the default option for both existing as well as new Government subscribers.

(ii) Choice of Investment pattern: The following options for investment choices shall be offered to Government employees:

(a) The existing scheme in which funds are allocated by the PFRDA among the three Public Sector Undertaking fund managers based on their past performance in accordance with the guidelines of PFRDA for Government employees shall continue as default scheme for both existing and new subscribers.

(b) Government employees who prefer a fixed return with minimum amount of risk shall be given an option to invest 100% of the funds in Government securities (Scheme G).

(c) Government employees who prefer higher returns shall be given the options of the following two Life Cycle based schemes:

(A) Conservative Life Cycle Fund with maximum exposure to equity capped at 25% - LC-25.
(B) Moderate Life Cycle Fund with maximum exposure to equity capped at 50% - LC-50.

The subscribers may exercise one of the above choices of Investment Pattern twice in a financial year.

(iii) Implementation of choices to the legacy corpus: Transfer of a huge legacy corpus of more than Rs. 1 lakh crore in respect of the Government sector subscribers from the existing Pension Fund Managers is likely to impact the market. It may be practically difficult for the PFRDA to allow Government subscribers to change the Pension Funds or investment pattern in respect of the accumulated corpus, in one go. Therefore, for the present, change in the Pension Funds or investment pattern is allowed in respect of incremental flows only.

(iv) Transfer of legacy corpus in a reasonable time frame: PFRDA shall draw up a scheme in due course for transfer of accumulated corpus as per new choices of Government subscribers in a reasonable time frame of say five years. Once PFRDA draws up this scheme, change in the Pension Funds or investment pattern shall be allowed in respect of the accumulated corpus in accordance with that scheme.

• For investment option as per para 2 (ii) (a) above, all other terms and conditions as contained in the investment guidelines issued by the Authority dated 03.06.2015 for NPS Schemes (Applicable to Scheme CG, Scheme SG, Corporate CG and NPS Lite Schemes and APY) and subsequent amendments made thereto shall be applicable. Further, for investment options as per para 2 (ii) (b) or 2 (ii) (c) (A) or 2 (ii) (c) (8) above, all other terms and conditions as contained in the investment guidelines issued by the Authority dated 04.05.2017 in respect of NPS Schemes {Other than Govt. Sector (CG & SG), Corporate CG, NPS Lite and APY} and subsequent amendments made thereto shall apply.
  
• This circular is issued in exercise of powers of the Authority under sub-clause (b) of sub-section (2) of Section 14 read with Section 23 of the PFRDA Act, 2013 and sub regulation (1) of Regulation 14 of the PFRDA (Pension Fund) Regulations, 2015.

The above arrangements are applicable w.e.f. 1st April, 2019.

(A. G. Das)
Executive Director

Source: PFRDA

Voluntary exit under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) - PFRDA

Voluntary exit under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) - PFRDA

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

CIRCULAR

CIR No.: PFRDA/2019/10/APY/1

Date: April 8, 2019

To,
POPs under Atal Pension Yojana (APY)

Subject: Voluntary exit under Atal Pension Yojana (APY)

The functionality of online voluntary exit was released in the month of August 2017 by Central Record Keeping Agency (CRA) - NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited to smoothen the process of Voluntary Exit under Atal Pension Yojana (APY). However, it has been observed that some POPs and branches of POPs are sending physical exit forms to PFRDA instead of processing through their APY module. This causes delay in execution of voluntary exit, which in turn increases grievances from the subscribers.

In view of the same, POPs are advised - (i) to process voluntary exit request only through their APY module (ii) to sensitize all their branches which are performing Atal Pension Yojana related activities to process voluntary exit as per the guidelines.

The physical forms are NOT to be submitted to PFRDA.

Yours faithfully,

(Dr. Purnima Sharma)
Deputy General Manager

PFRDA: Amendment to the investment Guidelines (Applicable to Scheme CG, Scheme SG, Corporate CG and NPS Lite schemes of NPS and Atal Pension Yojana)

PFRDA: Amendment to the investment Guidelines (Applicable to Scheme CG, Scheme SG, Corporate CG and NPS Lite schemes of NPS and Atal Pension Yojana)

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
B-14/A, Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhawan,
Qutab Institutional Area,
Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi-110016.

Ph: 011-26517501, 26517503, 26133730
Fax: 011-26517507
Website: www.pfrda.org.in

CIRCULAR

PFRDA/2019/8/SUP-PF/2

Date: 25.03.2019

Subject: Amendment to the investment Guidelines (Applicable to Scheme CG, Scheme SG, Corporate CG and NPS Lite schemes of NPS and Atal Pension Yojana)

Reference is invited to the Investment Guidelines for NPS Schemes (Scheme CG, Scheme SG, Corporate CG and NPS Lite schemes of NPS and Atal Pension Yojana) dated 3rd June 2015 issued vide circular no. PERDA/2015/16/PFM/7, the Change in Investment guidelines for NPS schemes W.r.t. Investment in equity Mutual funds vide circular no. PERDA/2018/56/PF/2 dated 20th August 2018 and Revised rating criteria for investments under NPS Schemes vide circular No. PERDA/2018/02/PF/02 dated 08.05.2018. The changes hereunder shall apply only to Scheme CG, Scheme SG, Corporate CG and NPS Lite schemes of NPS and Atal Pension Yojana.

2. In order to provide flexibility to the Pension Funds to improve the scheme performance depending upon the market conditions, it has been decided to increase the cap on Government Securities & related investments and Short term debt instruments & related investments by 5% each.

3. The asset class wise revised caps on the various asset classes are as under:

Asset Class	Caps on Investments for composite schemes
Government Securities & related investments	Upto 55%
Debt Instruments & related investments	Upto 45%
Equity & related investments	Upto 15%
Asset backed, trust structured etc.	Upto 5%
Short term debt instruments & related investments	Upto 10%

4.The other terms and conditions as mentioned in the circular PERDA/2015/16/PFM/7 dated 03.06.2015, circular no. PERDA/2018/56/PF/2 dated 20th August 2018 and circular No. PFRDA/2018/02/PF/02 dated 08.05.2018 shall remain the same.

This circular is issued in exercise of powers of the Authority under sub-clause (b) of the sub- section (2) of section 14 of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013 read with regulation 14 and 43 of PFRDA (Pension Fund) Regulation, 2015.

This would be effective from 01.04.2019.

Venkateswarlu Peri
(Chief General Manager)

Government will soon start the selection process for the new PFRDA chairman

Government will soon start the selection process for the new PFRDA chairman

"The Finance Ministry will soon come out with an advertisement to find a successor to head the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA),"

Contractor's term will be completed on April 30, 2019.

PFRDA was re-constituted into a statutory body after notification of PFRDA Act in 2014.

Contactor is the first Chairman to head the regulatory body. He had joined PFRDA on October 7, 2014.

As per the Act, the chairman will have a tenure of 5 years or till age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
Contractor was previously held the post of SBI managing director before being appointed as the PFRDA Chairman.

The pension fund regulator has reached a subscriber base of 2.65 crore in its flagship National Pension System (NPS) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) schemes and hopes to cover nearly 2.72 crore subscribers by the end of the current financial year.

The APY, mainly targeting the unorganised sector employees, offers five slabs of pension from Rs 1,000 - Rs.5,000 per month upon retirement. Employees in the age bracket of 18-40 years can sign up for an APY account.

NPS is a voluntary defined contribution retirement savings scheme for government employees as well as for those working in the organised and unorganised sectors.

PTI

NPS Withdrawal Norms

Ministry of Finance
NPS Withdrawal Norms

21 DEC 2018

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has changed the norms for withdrawal of National Pension System (NPS) subscribers. Keeping in view the possibility of sudden financial needs of the subscribers, the requirement of minimum period under National Pension System (NPS) for availing the facility of partial withdrawal from the mandatory Tier-I account of the subscriber has been reduced from 10 years to 3 years from the date of joining w.e.f. 10th August, 2017. The minimum gap of 5 years between two partial withdrawals has also been removed w.e.f. 10th August, 2017. A subscriber is eligible for three partial withdrawals during the period of subscription under NPS, each withdrawal not exceeding twenty-five percent of the contributions made by the subscriber and excluding contributions made by the employer. There is, however, no restriction on withdrawals from the Tier-II account of the subscriber.

The extent and purpose for which partial withdrawals from the Tier-I account under NPS are permissible are as under:

Purpose

• for higher education and marriage of his or her children including a legally adopted child;
• for the purchase or construction of a residential house or flat in his or her own name or in a joint name with his or her legally wedded spouse. In case, the subscriber already owns either individually or in the joint name a residential house or flat, other than ancestral property, no withdrawal under these regulations shall be permitted;
• for treatment of specified illnesses: if the subscriber, his legally wedded spouse, children, including a legally adopted child or dependent parents suffer from any specified illness, which shall comprise of hospitalization and treatment in respect of the following diseases:

(a) Cancer;
(b) Kidney Failure (End Stage Renal Failure);
(c) Primary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension;
(d) Multiple Sclerosis;
(e) Major Organ Transplant
(f) Coronary Artery Bypass Graft;
(g) Aorta Graft Surgery;
(h) Heart Valve Surgery;
(i) Stroke;
(j) Myocardial Infarction;
(k) Coma;
(l) Total blindness;
(m) Paralysis;
(n) Accident of serious/ life threatening nature.
(o) Any other critical illness of a life threatening nature as stipulated in the circulars, guidelines or notifications issued by the Authority from time to time.

• Towards meeting the expenses by subscriber for skill development/re-skilling or for any other self-development activities.
• Towards meeting the expenses by subscriber for establishment of own venture or any start-ups.
• To meet medical & incidental expenses arranging out of disability or incapacitation suffered.

Limits
The subscriber should have been in the National Pension System at least for a period of three years from the date of his or her joining;
The subscriber shall be permitted to withdraw accumulations not exceeding twenty-five per cent of the contributions made by him or her and standing to his or her credit in his or her individual pension account, as on the date of application for withdrawal;

Frequency
The subscriber shall be allowed to make partial withdrawals for a maximum of three times during the entire tenure of subscription under the NPS. There is, however, no minimum time gap now stipulated between two partial withdrawals.
This was stated by Shri Ship Pratap Shukla, Minister of State for Finance in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

PIB

Provision and rules for NPS part withdrawal

Provision and rules for NPS part withdrawal

1. The partial withdrawal can be made to the limit of 25% of the contributions made by the subscribers, but excluding contributions made by the employer.
2. The purpose of withdrawal is defined by the PFRDA. The purpose of withdrawal include treatment of specified illness of a family member, education of children, wedding expenses of children and purchase or construction of house.
3. The education expenses can be made for the subscriber's own children including the legally adopted children.
4. The marriage expenses can be a reason for withdrawal so long as the subscriber's own child is getting married, including his/her legally adopted child.
5. To be able to withdraw the money for construction of house, the subscriber must make sure that the house belongs to him/her or in a joint name with his/her legally wedded spouse, that too if the subscriber doesn't own more than one house besides the ancestoral property.
6. For the treatment, the permission to withdraw upto 25% can be made allowed only if the diseases suffered fall in the category of diseases such as cancer, kidney failure, multiple sclerosis, major organ transplant, stroke, heart valve surgery, coma, paralysis and total blindness, among a few other major ailments.
7. The subscriber can withdraw for a maximum of three times during the entire tenure of subscription.
8. For withdrawal, subscriber must make the request to the central record keeping agency or the national pension system trust through the nodal office.
9. In case the subscriber is suffering from an ailment, as mentioned in the clause, the request can be made by a subscriber's family member.
10. The rules have been effective from January 10, 2018 onwards.

Via: Centralgovernmentnews.com

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is the guaranteed Pension Scheme of Government of India administered by PFRDA

Ministry of Finance

Easy to Explain Benefits drive Atal Pension Yojana (APY) backed by Government of India's Guarantee;The Subscriber base under APY has crossed 1.24 crore mark; More than 27 lacs new subscribers have joined the Scheme during the Current Financial Year 2018-19

02 NOV 2018

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is the guaranteed Pension Scheme of Government of India administered by PFRDA.

The Subscriber base under APY has crossed 1.24 crore mark. The Govt of India guarantees the pension benefits. The Scheme is very easy to understand and it is very transparent. More than 27 lacs new subscribers have joined the Scheme during the current financial year, i.e. 2018-19. States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka are the top contributors in APY enrollment. The Scheme allows any Indian Citizen between the age group of 18-40 years to join through the bank or post office branches where one has the savings bank account. The table below shows State wise enrollment, gender wise distribution and coverage along with the latest population in those States.

The State wise potential, that is eligible population that can be covered under APY, and gender wise distribution of population as on 27th Oct 2018 is given below:

S.No	STATE	POPULATION BETWEEN AGE GROUP 18 TO 40	Number of APY Subscribers as on 27.10.2016	Percentage of Population Covered under APY	Total Female Subscribers	Percentage of Female Subscribers	Total Male Subscibers	Percentage of Male Subscribers	Total Transgender Subscribers	Percentage of Transgender Subscribers	Total
1	ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS	168,753	1,856	1	715	39	1,141	61	0	0	1,856
2	ANDHRA PRADESH & TELANGANA	34,832,527	1,128,032	3	565,804	50	561,843	50	385	0	1,128,032
3	ARUNACHAL PRADESH	542,212	4,507	1	1,936	43	2,571	57	0	0	4,507
4	ASSAM	12,291,862	250,783	2	109,481	44	141,259	56	43	0	250,783
5	BIHAR	35,484,731	1,116,119	3	559,297	50	556,707	50	115	0	1,116,119
6	CHANDIGARH	473,489	19,408	4	6,383	33	13,023	67	2	0	19,408
7	CHHATTISGARH	9,675,449	194,442	2	77,620	40	116,810	60	12	0	194,442
8	DADRA & NAGAR HAVELI	161,941	6,689	4	1,350	20	5,337	80	2	0	6,689
9	DAMAN & DIU	134,502	4,697	3	735	16	3,962	84	0	0	4,697
10	DELHI	7,266,256	205,759	3	67,330	33	138,376	67	53	0	205,759
11	GOA	595,087	28,951	5	10,480	36	18,468	64	3	0	28,951
12	GUJARAT	23,827,045	591,045	2	179,603	30	411,318	70	124	0	591,045
13	HARYANA	10,104,539	278,199	3	75,688	27	202,460	73	51	0	278,199
14	HIMACHAL PRADESH	2,685,526	79,964	3	27,241	34	52,711	66	12	0	79,964
15	JAMMU & KASHMIR	4,775,045	47,614	1	12,025	25	35,551	75	38	0	47,614
16	JHARKHAND	11,967,910	258,688	2	128,426	50	130,239	50	23	0	258,688
17	KARNATAKA	25,359,036	915,260	4	389,509	43	525,564	57	187	0	915,260
18	KERALA	11,943,218	276,115	2	151,103	55	124,961	45	51	0	276,115
19	LAKSHADWEEP	25,877	295	1	80	27	215	73	0	0	295
20	MADHYA PRADESH	27,234,721	662,515	2	226,775	34	435,630	66	110	0	662,515
21	MAHARASHTRA	45,274,703	1,000,604	2	354,301	35	646,088	65	215	0	1,000,604
22	MANIPUR	1,140,447	8,031	1	3,833	48	4,198	52	0	0	8,031
23	MEGHALAYA	1,068,987	9,049	1	3,705	41	5,344	59	0	0	9,049
24	MIZORAM	432,946	5,798	1	3,089	53	2,709	47	0	0	5,798
25	NAGALAND	783,664	7,214	1	2,986	41	4,228	59	0	0	7,214
26	ODISHA	16,118,865	398,416	2	161,799	41	236,501	59	116	0	398,416
27	PUDUCHERRY	512,040	23,991	5	12,601	53	11,381	47	9	0	23,991
28	PUNJAB	11,134,889	381,405	3	120,374	32	261,003	68	28	0	381,405
29	RAJASTHAN	25,277,598	569,052	2	173,965	31	394,957	69	130	0	569,052
30	SIKKIM	264,461	6,828	3	2,606	38	4,221	62	1	0	6,828
31	TAMIL NADU	29,069,600	968,372	3	529,395	55	438,679	45	298	0	968,372
32	TRIPURA	1,503,503	28,786	2	12,544	44	16,240	56	2	0	28,786
33	UTTAR PRADESH	71,289,176	1,790,481	3	594,235	33	1,195,808	67	438	0	1,790,481
34	UTTARAKHAND	3,810,712	122,871	3	40,855	33	81,997	67	19	0	122,871
35	WEST BENGAL	36,688,732	709,869	2	324,163	46	385,522	54	184	0	709,869
	TOTAL	463,920,049	12,101,705	3	4,932,032	41	7,167,022	59	2,651	0	12,101,705

PIB

Alert Notice for General Public from PFRDA

Alert Notice for General Public from PFRDA

PLEASE BEWARE PFRDA NEVER SENDS ANY EMAIL OR MESSAGE PROMISING LARGE SUMS FOR PAYMENT OF FEE

ALERT NOTICE

"This is to inform general public that PFRDA is a Regulatory Body and does not ever call for any sum for release of funds to any individual from their Permanent Retirement Account (PRAN) maintained with the Centre Record Keeping Agency.

It is also informed that PFRDA has appointed entities such as Point of Presence, Aggregators etc. which are banks and non-banking financial companies which are authorized to interact with subscribers for a prescribed fee which is much less than what is being asked for by the fraudsters.
PLEASE BEWARE. PFRDA NEVER SENDS ANY EMAIL/MESSAGE PROMISING LARGE SUMS FOR PAYMENT OF FEE/CHARGE. ANY SUCH COMMUNICATION IS SENT WITH THE INTENTION TO DEFRAUD YOU. INFORM POLICE IMMEDIATELY."

Source: http://www.pfrda.org.in

Reintroduction Of Old Pension Scheme

Reintroduction Of Old Pension Scheme

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FINANCE
DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4075
TO BE ANSWERED ON AUGUST 10, 2018/SHRAVANA 19, 1940 (SAKA)
REINTRODUCTION OF OLD PENSION SCHEME

Shri Rakesh Singh

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state

• the details of drawbacks of the New Pension Scheme (NPS) introduced for the Government officials;
• whether the NPS is not as beneficial monetarily as the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) and if so, the details thereof;
•  whether the Government employees are disgruntled with the NPS and if so, the details thereof; and
• whether the Government proposes to reintroduce the OPS replacing the NPS, if so, the details thereof and the action taken by the Government in this regard?

ANSWER

The Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance
(Shri Shiv Pratap Shulda)

(a) & (b) National Pension System (NPS) has been designed giving utmost importance to the welfare of the subscribers. Government has made a conscious move to shift from the defined benefit pension scheme to defined contribution pension scheme i.e. NPS, due to rising and unsustainable pension bill. There are a number of benefits available to the employees under NPS. Some of the benefits are enlisted below:

• NPS is a well designed pension system managed through an unbundled architecture involving intermediaries appointed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) viz. pension funds, custodian, central record keeping and accounting agency, National Pension System Trust, trustee bank, points of presence and Annuity service providers. It is prudently regulated by PFRDA which is a statutory regulatory body established to promote old age income security and to protect the interest of subscribers of NPS.
• The pension wealth which accumulates over a period of time till retirement grows with a compounding effect. The all-in-costs of the institutional architecture of NPS are among the lowest in the world.
• Contribution made to the NPS Tier-I account is eligible for tax deduction under the Income Tax Act, 1961. An additional tax rebate of Rs.50000 is also allowed for contributions made to NPS Tier-I under Section 80CCD (1B) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
• Subscribers can withdraw up to 25% of their own contributions before attaining age of superannuation, subject to certain conditions. Further, PFRDA vide "PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2017" dated 10.08.2017 has liberalized norms for partial withdrawals which also include reduction of requirement of minimum years of being enrolled under NPS from 10 years to 3 years from the date of joining.
• PFRDA has increased the maximum age limit from 60 years to 65 years for joining NPS-All Citizen Model and Corporate Sector Model, vide “PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2017” dated 06.10.2017.
• PFRDA vide "PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2018" dated 02.2018 has facilitated easy exit & withdrawal in case of disability and incapacitation of the subscriber covered under NPS.
• Transparency and Portability is ensured through online access of the pension account by the NPS subscribers, across all geographical locations and portability of employments.

(c) & (d) Representations have been received which inter alia also include the demand that the Government may revert to old defined benefit pension system. However, due to rising and unsustainable pension bill and competing claims on the fiscal, there is no proposal to replace the NPS with old pension scheme in respect of Central Government employees recruited on or after 01.01.2004.

PFRDA Common Stewardship Code

PFRDA

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

B-14/A, Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhawan
Qutab Institutional Area,
Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi - 110 016.
Ph: 011-26517501, 26517503, 26133730
Fax:011-26517507
Website: www.pfrda.org.in

CIRCULAR

PFRDA/2018/01/PF/01

Date: 4th May, 2018

Subject: Common Stewardship Code

1.  National Pension System strives to provide old age income security to its subscribers of which NPS Trust is the legal owner of the funds and the Pension Funds undertaking investment of such monies as per the investment guidelines approved by the Authority. Pension Funds are expected to shoulder greater responsibility towards the subscribers/beneficiaries by enhancing monitoring and engagement with the investee companies. Such activities are commonly referred to as 'Stewardship Responsibilities' of the institutional investors and asset managers and are intended to protect the subscribers' pension wealth. Such increased engagement is also seen as an important step towards improved corporate governance in the investee companies and gives a greater fillip to the protection of the interest of subscribers in such companies.

2. In view of the above, in consultation with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), a proposal for introducing a Stewardship Code in India was examined by a sub¬committee of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) and approved.

3. All the Pension Funds under the NPS architecture shall follow the Stewardship Code as placed at Annex including the voting policy dated 20.04.2017, which is already recognized in such principles and is effective.

4. The principles (other than voting policy which is already in effect) enumerated in the Code shall be effective from the date of issuance.

5. This Circular is issued in exercise of the powers conferred under Sections 14 (1) read with 14 (2) (a) & (b) of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013.

6. This Circular is available at www.pfrda.org.in/ under the link "Regulatory Framework- Circulars".

S/d,
(Venkateswarlu Peri)
Chief General Manager

To
Pension Funds registered with PFRDA

National Pension System (NPS): Important Announcements and Approvals in Board Meeting of PFRDA to improve the operational and regulation issues

National Pension System (NPS): Important Announcements and Approvals in Board Meeting of PFRDA to improve the operational and regulation issues

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
Ministry of Finance

04-May-2018 16:18 IST

Important Announcements and Approvals in Board Meeting of PFRDA

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is established by the Government of India for regulation and development of Pension Sector in order to protect the old age income security of subscribers. PFRDA takes various initiatives from time to time in order to simplify and improve the operational issues in National Pension System (NPS) like new functionality development under NPS architecture, simplification of account opening, withdrawal, grievance management etc.
In this regard, during the recently held Board Meeting some important decisions were taken to improve the operational and regulation issues in National Pension System (NPS). Some of the decisions taken in the Board Meeting are as follows:

• Budget announcement- Rating criteria for investments- Proposal on changing the investment grade rating from ‘AA’ to ‘A’ for corporate bonds was approved. The change is subject to a cap on investments in ‘A’ rated bonds to be not more than 10% of the overall Corporate Bond portfolio of the Pension Funds. This initiative will enlarge the scope of investment for the Fund Managers while ensuring credit quality.
• Introduction of a Common Stewardship Code: The proposal on adoption of Common Stewardship Code, as a measure of good Corporate Governance, was approved. Further, it was also approved that the Principles enumerated in such code shall be circulated to all Pension Funds for compliance and implementation. Adoption of these Principles by Pension Funds will improve their engagement with investee companies and benefit subscribers.
• Modification in Partial Withdrawal rules under NPS: Partial withdrawals will now be allowed to NPS subscribers who wish to improve their employability or acquire new skills by pursuing higher education/ acquiring professional and technical qualifications. Further, individual NPS subscribers who wish to set up a new business/ acquire new business will also be allowed to make partial withdrawals from his contributions. Other terms applicable to partial withdrawals will remain unchanged.
• Increasing cap on equity investment in active choice to 75% from current 50% for Private Sector Subscribers: Presently there is a cap of 50% on equity investment under active choice in NPS. The proposal on increasing cap on equity investment in active choice to 75% from currently 50% has been approved by the Board. However, it comes with a clause of tapering of the equity allocation after the age of 50 years.
• Currently, NPS and APY have a cumulative subscriber base of over 2.13 crore with total Asset Under Management (AUM) of more than Rs. 2.38 lakh crore.

Source: PIB

NITI Aayog Monthly Payroll Data released for the first time

NITI Aayog

Monthly Payroll Data released for the first time

Numbers indicate the efforts made by the Government on job creation and formalization of the economy.

26 APR 2018

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), Employees' State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and the Pension fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) have released payroll data.

India has, for the first time, introduced monthly payroll reporting for the formal sector to facilitate analysis of new and continuing employment.

The payroll data, categorized age-wise, for the months September, 2017 to February, 2018 has been released on 25th April, 2018.

The numbers from these three organisations are an eye opener and put an end to all speculations and conjectures regarding job creation in the economy. They also strengthen the efforts made by the Government on job creation and formalization of the economy.

There are other organisations also, such as ICAI, Bar Council, Medical Council and other professional bodies which could have such monthly data for payroll reporting for their professionals.

Data released by EPFO shows that during September, 2017 to February, 2018, 31.10 lakh new additions across all age groups were made in the payroll. Given that the data for recent months is provisional due to continuous updation of employee records, this could be called a conservative estimate. The actual figures may well be more than this.

From the PFRDA, the New Pension Scheme (NPS) data indicates generation of 4.2 lakh new payroll during the given period, that too only from Tier-I account. NPS currently manages the corpus of around 50 lakh employees in State and Central government. For this study the Central and State autonomous bodies have been shown under Central and State governments respectively, while non-government refers to the corporate sector employees.

From the above two organisations itself, 35.3 lakh new payrolls were generated during this six month period.

In addition, the ESIC data also mirrors the payroll growth shown in the other two sets of data from EPFO and PFRDA. Since ESIC data is not Aadhar seeded there is further scope of some modifications.

The payroll data from these three organisations would now be released every month. Given that till now there was no such system in place, this data would provide a more firm basis for various analysis and studies of the economy, job creation, as also aid in policy making. We may as well as bid goodbye to the days of analyses based on random sample surveys. Hopefully this would also end the debate regarding and criticisms about jobless growth in the economy.

A more constructive phase of focusing on deriving the most out of this data for furthering development should now begin.

PIB

Now 97.05 lakh subscribers base under Atal Pension Yojana

Ministry of Finance

Now 97.05 lakh subscribers base under Atal Pension Yojana

02 APR 2018

At the end of Financial Year 2017-18, 97.05 lakh subscribers have enrolled under Atal Pension Yojana. The incremental addition of 48.21 lakh subscribers was a 98% more than previous Financial Year 2016-17 figure of 48.83 lakhs. PFRDA appreciates the efforts taken out by the APY Service Providers (Banks/DoP) for their contribution towards making India a Pensioned Society.

PFRDA has taken various initiatives for the expansion of outreach and ease the operations under APY. Online facility to view Statement of Account and ePRAN card was enabled for the ease access of account of APY subscribers, going ahead mobile applications for empowering the subscribers to view transactions and other details of their APY account was introduced. For the convenience of the subscriber and promoting the digital initiatives of GOI, PFRDA introduced the online registration facility through eNPS Channel by login to a website www.enps.nsdl.com without any requirement of physical document.

APY became operational from 1st June, 2015 and is available to all citizens of India in the age group of 18-40 years. Under the scheme, a subscriber would receive a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs.1000 to Rs.5000 per month, depending upon his contribution, from the age of 60 years. The same pension would be paid to the spouse of the subscriber and on the demise of both the subscriber and spouse, the accumulated pension wealth is returned to the nominee.

Now APY can also be opened through a complete digital channel through eNPS platform. A subscriber can view and print the ePRAN card and Statement of Transactions. Further, the subscriber can register complaints/ grievance by providing his/ her PRAN details on https://npslite-nsdl.com/CRAlite/grievanceSub.do.

Growth of Atal Pension Yojana during the Previous Financial Years

No. of Subscribers
Financial Year	Absolute	Cumulative
2015-2016	2,484,895	2,484,895
2016-2017	2,398,934	4,883,829
2017-2018	4,821,632	9,705,461