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

Ministry of Finance

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

Increase the limit of pension and age under Atal Pension Yojana - PFRDA

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.

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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)

Employees Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995, a minimum pension of Rs. 1,000/- per month has been prescribed with effect from 01.09.2014 for the pensioners under Employees Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995.

Ministry of Labour & Employment
Minimum Pension

17 DEC 2018

As regards Employees Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995, a minimum pension of Rs. 1,000/- per month has been prescribed with effect from 01.09.2014 for the pensioners under Employees Pension Scheme (EPS), 1995.

In the case of Atal Pension Yojana (APY), depending upon the pension plan selected, each subscriber under APY shall receive a guaranteed minimum pension of Rs. 1000 per month or Rs. 2000 per month or Rs. 3000 per month or Rs. 4000 per month or Rs. 5000 per month, after the age of 60 years until his/her death. If the actual returns during the accumulation phase are higher than the assumed returns for minimum guaranteed pension, such excess will be passed on to the subscriber. As such, the minimum pension depending upon the pension plan selected by the subscriber is fixed under the APY. Under National Pension System (NPS), there is no ceiling fixed for minimum pension.
Further, a High-Empowered Monitoring Committee has been constituted for complete evaluation and review of the EPS, 1995.

There is no provision for Dearness Allowance in EPS, 1995, as it is a self-funded scheme with fixed contributions. Further, Dearness Allowance is not applicable under NPS and APY as the pension under both depends upon the accumulated corpus at the time of exit which is market linked.
This information was given by Shri Santosh Kumar Gangwar Union Minister of State (I/C) for Labour and Employment in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

PIB

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

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

PFRDA identifies 21 Banks as Makers of Excellence under Atal Pension Yojana Outreach Programme;The Number of Current APY subscribers crosses 86 Lacs mark

Ministry of Finance

PFRDA identifies 21 Banks as Makers of Excellence under Atal Pension Yojana Outreach Programme; The Number of Current APY subscribers crosses 86 Lacs mark.

15 FEB 2018

With a view to bring the economically disadvantaged section of the society in the unorganized sector within the pension fold or old age income security coverage, Government had launched the Atal Pension Yojana (APY)in May 2015.

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in association with Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance conducts APY Outreach Programme on a regular basis.
Accordingly, PFRDA has observed a Campaign namely, Makers of Excellence for the Chairmen and MDs of all the Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Cooperative Banks (Rural & Urban) & Department of Post for registration of subscriber under APY during the month of Dec 2017 for a fortnight. Under the campaign, nearly, 6 lacs APY accounts were sourced by the APY Service Provider Banks. Targets were allocated to various banks to be achieved during the Campaign. A total of 21 banks- 6 Public sector banks, 14 Regional Rural Banks and 1 Cooperative Bank were able to achieve the target under the campaign and became the Makers of Excellence. PFRDA has planned to award the Top Management of the winning banks at the upcoming PFRDA Pension Conclave in national capital.

The winning Banks and their performance is as below:

S. No.	Name of the APY Service Provider	Category	Number of Branches	Minimum No. of Funded Accounts to be Sourced under Makers of Excellence Campaign	Actual No. of Funded Accounts Sourced under Makers of Excellence Campaign	Remarks (Qualified /Not Qualified
1	CANARA BANK	PSU	6,050	35,000	101,669	Qualified
2	INDIAN BANK	PSU	2,588	15,000	76,823	Qualified
3	ANDHRA BANK	PSU	2,903	15,000	57,315	Qualified
4	BANK OF BARODA	PSU	5,460	30,000	42,665	Qualified
5	ALLAHABAD BANK	PSU	3,143	20,000	30,029	Qualified
6	VIJAYA BANK	PSU	1,603	10,000	28,241	Qualified
7	GRAMIN BANK OF ARYAVART	RRB	700	3,500	5,915	Qualified
8	MADHYA BIHAR GRAMIN BANK	RRB	698	3,490	5,507	Qualified
9	PRAGATHI KRISHNA GRAMIN BANK	RRB	650	3,250	5,383	Qualified
10	PRATHAMA BANK	RRB	412	2,060	5,288	Qualified
11	BARODA UTTAR PRADESH GRAMIN BANK	RRB	924	4,620	5,125	Qualified
12	ANDHRA PRADESH GRAMEENA VIKAS BANK	RRB	768	3,840	4,893	Qualified
13	BARODA RAJASTHAN KSHETRIYA GRAMIN BANK	RRB	819	4,095	4,560	Qualified
14	PURVANCHAL BANK	RRB	570	2,850	3,368	Qualified
15	KAVERI GRAMEENA BANK	RRB	497	2,485	2,942	Qualified
16	DENA GUJARAT GRAMIN BANK	RRB	234	1,170	2,322	Qualified
17	BIHAR GRAMIN BANK	RRB	376	1,880	2,258	Qualified
18	CHAITANYA GODAVARI GRAMEENA BANK	RRB	203	1,015	1,714	Qualified
19	PALLAVAN GRAMA BANK	RRB	256	1,280	1,431	Qualified
20	SAPTAGIRI GRAMEENA BANK	RRB	207	1,035	1,074	Qualified
21	THE BEGUSARAI CENTRAL COOPERATIVE BANK LTD	DCCB	9	45	113	Qualified

The APY scheme 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.

The APY Scheme follows the same investment pattern as applicable to the NPS contribution of Central Govt employees. During the year 2016-17, it has earned a return of 13.91%.
The number of current APY Subscribers has crossed 86 lacs mark. The yearly addition in APY enrollment is provided below:

APY Subscriber Addition (In Lacs)
Year	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18( till 13thFeb 2018)	Total
No of Subscribers ( lacs)	24.84	23.99	37.63	86.46

PIB

Over 69 lacs subscribers join Atal Pension Yojana with contribution of Rs. 2690 crores

Over 69 lacs subscribers join Atal Pension Yojana with contribution of Rs. 2690 crores

Secretary DFS: Still Scope for increasing pension coverage

Atal Pension Yojana currently has over 69 lacs subscribers with contribution of Rs. 2690.00 crores. Chairman, PFRDA Shri Hemant G Contractor however emphasised the need of increasing the pension coverage in India at a recently concluded conference on Atal Pension Yojana. The conference organised by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in the national capital saw participation from all major banks, representatives from NPCI, SCHIL, SIDBI, Access Assist and some major MFIs.

A large section of the society still does not have access to pensions and this is a cause of concern for PFRDA and Government, Shri Contactor said. Congratulating the winners of the contest organised by PFRDA the Chairman said that APY has made progress in covering the intended subscribers but much remains to be done. He mentioned that on an average, a little less than 2% of the eligible population is covered under APY and hence a lot has to be done to provide people a regular access to old age income. He also touched upon the issues of persistence in the APY accounts and asserted that the objective of the scheme is to provide pension and this will only happen if the contribution in the account has been regularly paid. He urged the APY Service Providers to educate the subscribers on the importance of the same. He also urged upon the APY Service Providers i.e Banks and Post Offices under Department of Post to achieve the targets allocated by government by putting in their best efforts.

A video message of Shri Rajiv Kumar, Secretary DFS was played during the occasion. Shri Rajiv Kumar mentioned that Atal Pension Yojana is flagship program of the Government of India under financial inclusion and financial security. The pension coverage in this country is at around 12% and banks and other stakeholder need to work towards greater coverage under the scheme. He also said that DFS is monitoring the progress under the scheme and targets allocated under the scheme to banks should be accomplished. He touched upon the subject of providing a digital platform for APY by PFRDA i.e e-APY. Secretary Shri Rajiv Kumar congratulated the banks on their performance under the campaigns and urged them to continue the work.

While the government has a pension scheme for the BPL persons but the amount is meagre and is not sufficient for old age needs. 9% of the population of India, i.e 110 million people are over 60 years and by 2030 this figure is expected to cross 180 million. The 60 plus age groups is the fastest growing demographic in the country. With increase in longevity of the people, disintegration of the joint family system in India and inflation, there is greater need for old age than ever before. Currently pension benefits are available India basically to the organised sector. Atal Pension Yojana introduced in 2015 by Government of India provides a self- contributory savings pension scheme with guaranteed pension of Rs. 1,000/- to Rs. 5,000/- with a very low contribution by the subscriber. All banks and Department of Post have pushed the product to the interiors of the country. APY has option for increasing the pension amount from Rs. 1000/- to any other amount up to Rs. 5000/- as per the savings capacity of the subscriber, and further allows the spouse to continue the account in the event of the death of the subscriber before the age of sixty years. PFRDA has also been engaging with various State Governments for providing co-contribution under the scheme. With the introduction of e-APY through Aadhaar, the banks will be able to effectively utilise the digital platform for greater coverage.

PIB

Atal Pension Yojana surges ahead with 62 lacs enrolment

Atal Pension Yojana surges ahead with 62 lacs enrolment

A total of 3.07 lac APY accounts have been sourced under One Nation One Pension. The stellar performance of the banks under the campaign includes some of the largest banks in the country namely, State Bank of India sourcing a stupendous 51,000 APY accounts and other prominent banks like Canara Bank which has sourced 32,306 APY accounts, Andhra Bank at 29,057 APY accounts, in other private banks category, Karnataka Bank at 2641 APY accounts, in RRB's category, Allahabad UP Gramin Bank at 28,609 accounts followed by Madhya Bihar Gramin Bank at 5,056 APY accounts , Baroda Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank at 3,013 APY accounts, Kashi Gomti Samyut Gramin Bank at 2,847 APY accounts & Punjab Gramin Bank at 2,194 APY accounts.

At a time when the interest rate on various financial instruments including Savings Bank is declining, Atal Pension Yojana as a pension scheme offers a guaranteed rate of 8% assured return for the subscribers and also the opportunity of higher earnings in case the rate of return is higher than 8% at the time of maturity, after staying invested in the scheme for 20-42 years. Increasing enrolment is attributed to financialisation of assets and driving the people to pension products which has Govt of India implicit guarantee to give an assured pension to the subscriber, spouse and return of corpus to the nominee.

Department of Financial Services in association with Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has been organizing various APY campaigns to give thrust through which the population not covered by any pension scheme is approached by APY Service Provider banks and Department of Posts to inform about the salient features and benefits of the APY scheme and are encouraged to get enrolled in the scheme. PFRDA organised a National Level Pension Mobilization Campaign " One Nation One Pension" from 2nd August to 19th August 2017 in association with the APY Service Provider Banks all over the country. 62 lacs subscribers have become members of the Atal Pension Yojana till date in 2 years after launch of the scheme.

The objective of PFRDA is to cover the maximum possible population uncovered by any pension scheme under the APY scheme so that India as a nation can move from a pension less to a pensioned society and the citizens can live a life of dignity in their vulnerable years.

PIB

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) can now be subscribed digitally

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) can now be subscribed digitally;
eNPS Channel (APY@eNPS) involves complete digital enrolment process

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has now introduced "APY@eNPS" which involves a complete digital enrolment process. This is the latest in the series of various initiatives taken by PFRDA for expansion of outreach of Atal Pension Yojana (APY), to give additional push to cover the as yet unreached population at greater ease. PFRDA has conducted meetings with Banks and Deptt of Post at Kolkata, Bengaluru & Mumbai respectively for the earliest roll out of the facility call.

Shri A G Das, CGM, PFRDA recently addressed the meetings at Mumbai where IT department /Nodal officers of the Banks/Deptt of Post were present. PFRDA had briefed about the benefits of APY@eNPS platform to the Service Providers under APY where more than 45 bank officials (IT officials/Nodal Officers) were present. The APY service providers have been briefed to develop APY@eNPS channel features before 30th June 2017.

PIB

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) included under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act 2016

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) included under Section 7 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act 2016; 

APY currently has more than 54 lacs subscribers with an asset base of more than Rs. 2,200 crores.

With an objective of bringing in transparency, efficiency and to enable beneficiaries to get their entitlement directly in a convenient and seamless manner, Aadhaar card has been constituted as the primary document in identification of the beneficiary under the Aadhaar Act which came into effect from 12th September 2016.

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has now been included under the Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act. As per the provisions of the Act, any individual who is eligible to receive benefits under the APY will have to furnish proof of possession of Aadhaar number or undergo enrolment under Aadhaar authentication. A copy of the notification is attached.

Accordingly, an APY subscriber will have to get the Aadhaar number recorded in his or her APY pension account and also in his/ her savings account where the periodic pension contribution instalments are debited and government co-contribution is to be credited. In case a subscriber is not yet having an Aadhaar card, he/ she should immediately get him/ her enrolled for the Aadhaar card for which he or she can visit the nearest Aadhaar enrolment centre. The list of all such centers is available on UIDAI website, www.uidai.gov.in.
PFRDA has identified nearly 12.35 lakh subscribers who are eligible for Government of India co-contribution for an amount upto Rs 1000 for the financial year 2016-17 which will be released to the eligible subscribers’ savings bank accounts which are seeded with Aadhaar. These subscribers are advised to approach their Bank or Postal Branch for seeding their Aadhar Number.

In the recent times, various new initiatives like online viewing of Statement of Transactions (SOT) and online PRAN card under APY have been taken up by PFRDA for facilitating subscribers under the scheme.
Atal Pension Yojana currently has more than 54 lacs subscribers with an asset base of more than Rs. 2,200 crores.

PIB

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) reaches 53 lakhs subscribers base

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) reaches 53 lakhs subscribers base 

235 Banks and Department of Post involved with APY implementation
97.5% of the subscribers contributing at monthly intervals; 51.5% subscribers have opted for a monthly pension of Rs. 1000

The subscribers base under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has reached about 53 Lakhs. At present 235 Banks and Department of Post are involved with the implementation of the scheme. Besides the branches of the banks and CBS-enabled offices of India Post, quite a few banks are sourcing subscribers through their internet banking portals in a paperless environment.

The APY Scheme follows the same investment pattern as applicable to the NPS contribution of Central Government employees.  During the year 2016-17, it has earned a return of 13.91%.

With a view to empower the APY subscribers, new functionalities have been developed where under 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.

Presently males account for 62% of the subscribers and female for about 38%. Most of the subscribers have opted for monthly contribution; about 97.5% of the subscribers are contributing at monthly intervals, about 0.8% at quarterly intervals and about 1.7% at half yearly intervals.

A majority of the subscribers have opted for a monthly pension of Rs. 1000/-.  Presently 51.5% subscribers have opted for a monthly pension of Rs.1000/- and 34.5% of the subscribers have opted for a monthly pension of Rs.5000/-. Pension amount wise segmentation of the subscribers is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Pension amount wise segmentation of the APY subscribers

The Atal Pension Yojana became operational from 1st June, 2015 and is available to all the 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 the spouse, the accumulated pension wealth is returned to the nominee.

PIB

Online Statement Of Transaction (e-SOT) and the e-PRAN card launched for Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers; More than 45 lacs subscribers to be benefitted

Online Statement Of Transaction (e-SOT) and the e-PRAN card launched for Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers; More than 45 lacs subscribers to be benefited.

With a view to digitally empower the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers and improve the quality of service, the facility of online viewing of the statement of transaction(e-SOT) and also the e-PRAN card have been launched. More than 45 lacs APY subscribers are likely to be benefitted. The APY subscribers can visit the website: www.npscra.nsdl.co.in or www.npstrust.org.in under the Atal Pension Yojana Section to avail these value added facilities.

By providing the APY/PRAN Acct details and Savings Bank Account number details, the APY subscriber can view one's APY Account Statement. Even for the APY subscriber who does not have his APY PRAN number readily available can also avail these facilities by providing one's Date of Birth and Savings Bank Account number details. This online tool enables the Subscribers to view his complete details of APY account like transaction details, pension amount, pension commencement date, nominee name, associated bank name etc. Even though the feature is a self-servicing tool but the service providers can also access the feature on behalf of their customer to improve the quality of customer service. APY Subscribers can print their e PRAN card and get it laminated for their future reference if needed. In case of any changes in the demographic details in the APY account, the subscribers can re-print their e-PRAN which shows the updated subscriber records.

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Scheme is being implemented through 235 APY-Service Providers all over the country consisting of 27 Public Sector Banks (PSBs), 19 private banks, 1 foreign bank, 56 Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), 109 District Cooperative Banks (DCBs), 16 State Cooperative Banks(SCBs), 6 Urban Cooperative Banks (UCBs) and the Department of Posts. All the APY-SPs are partners in achieving the APY outreach through-out the length and breadth of the country. Presently, there are more than 45 lacs subscribers registered in the Scheme. About 10000-15000 APY subscribers are getting enrolled into the Scheme every day.

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was launched by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi on 09th May, 2015 and became operational from 1st June, 2015. APY is available for all citizens of India in the age group of 18-40 years. Under the APY, the subscribers would receive a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs. 1000 to Rs. 5000 per month from the age of 60 years, depending on their contributions, which depends on the age of the subscriber at the time of joining the APY. The Same amount of pension is paid to the spouse in case of subscriber's demise. After the demise of both i.e. Subscriber & Spouse, the nominee would be paid with the pension corpus. There is option for Spouse to continue to contribute for balance period on premature death of subscriber before 60 years, so as to avail pension by Spouse. There are tax benefits at entry, accumulation and pension payment phases. If the actual returns on the pension contributions during the accumulation phase are higher than the assumed returns for the minimum guaranteed pension, such excess returns are passed on to the subscriber, resulting in enhanced scheme benefits.

PIB

PFRDA: Let government staffs pension funds to invest 50% in equities

PFRDA: Let government staffs pension funds to invest 50% in equities

Hyderabad: The pensions fund regulator Pfrda wants government to more than treble investment levels in equity markets by government subscribers under the National Pension System (NPS) up to 50 per cent from 15 per cent now.

The regulator has sent a proposal to government seeking to allow government subscribers (state and Central government employees) invest up to 50 per cent in equities under the NPS, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority chairman Hemanth Contractor said here today.

The authority manages about Rs 1.70 trillion of funds belonging to 1.5 crore subscribers who come from government and non-government sectors. Of this 85 per cent are government subscribers which are managed by seven fund managers.

We have taken up very strongly with the government that government subscribers should be given the same choices as are available to the non-government subscribers who can invest up to 50 per cent in equity markets.

"So, what we are telling the government is that you give the same choices. Since government subscribers account for bulk of the fund this will mean a big change. Lot of money can start flowing in to equities," Contractor said.

The government is quite sympathetic to our view, he said, adding they had several rounds of discussions and he expects this to happen in the next couple of months.

"We are quite optimistic about this. It should happen," he added.

According to him, the non-government sector accounts for 15 per cent of the overall corpus.

Replying to a query, he said he has written to government seeking clarity on the regulation of some pension products offered by mutual funds and insurance companies as they are currently regulated by another regulator Irdai.

"Since we became a statutory body in 2013, we are the designated regulator of the pensions industry. So we’ve told government that all the other pension schemes floated by MFs, insurance companies should actually be regulated by us. The government is looking into our demand and has in fact set up a committee to look into the issues," Contractor said.

On the growth of the sector, he said the NPS recorded a growth of 35 per cent in the number of subscribers last year and a little over 40 per cent in the fund that it manages and this year also the growth would be on similar lines.

Contractor also said they have suggested to the government to raise the age-limit for subscribers of Atal Pension Yojana to 50 from 40 now and increase the pension slab from the present Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 a month.

Meanwhile, Karvy Compushare was appointed as the second central record-keeping agency (CRA) for serving subscribers of NPS by the Pfrda.

PTI

Government May Allow Employees To Raise NPS Fund In Stocks Soon

Government is expected to take a decision soon on a proposal to allow its employees to raise their contribution in stocks as well as choose fund managers under the New Pension System, regulator PFRDA said.

“As you know we have been talking with government to open up the choice of both the fund manager and investment pattern for the government subscribers, these discussions are still going on. The proposals are with the government and hopefully a decision will be taken up by them very shortly,” Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Chairman Hemant G Contractor said today.

Contractor said that government had expressed concerns that all employees would not be able to understand the investment pattern and may end up making wrong choices.

However, PFRDA recently conducted an online survey involving over 10,000 government employees–both central and state, and found that about 48 per cent of the people were pretty aware of financial things, he said.

Contractor said the findings of the survey were quite interesting as almost 48 per cent government employees were having an average financial literacy rate.

“The level of financial literacy was not as bad we thought as. Only about 24 per cent has low score. We passed it on to the government, so we hoping that with the results of the survey, the government will be able to take decisions faster,” he added.

Currently, pension funds under PFRDA are allowed to invest up to 15 per cent of the government employees’ corpus into stock market. While, for private sector employees it is up to 50 per cent.
Among others, PFRDA will also allow NPS subscribers to choose from commercial mortgage based securities or residential mortgaged based securities, units issued by Real Estate Investment Trusts, asset backed securities, units of Infrastructure Investment Trusts under the alternative investment funds (AIF).

As of September 6, 2016 PFRDA regulated NPS and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) together have 1.34 crore subscribers with total Asset under Management (AUM) of Rs 1.45 lakh crore.

Rs 100 crore released towards Government of India co-contribution in Atal Pension Yojana

Rs 100 crore released towards Government of India co-contribution in Atal Pension Yojana

Atal Pension Yojana is being implemented through the APY Service Providers comprising of Public Sector Banks, Private Sector Banks, Regional Rural Banks, Cooperative Banks and Department of Post both in urban and rural areas across the country. The total number of subscribers registered under APY as on 30th June 2016 has crossed 30 lakh and every day nearly 5000 new subscribers are added.

The scheme provides for a co-contribution from Government of India for those who have registered before 31/3/2016 with an amount of 50% of the subscribers contribution up-to a maximum of Rs. 1000/- and these subscribers will be eligible for co-contribution for a period of 5 years from 2015-16 to 2019-20. Only those subscribers who are not income tax payers and not part of any other social security schemes are eligible for Government of India co-contribution. Keeping in view the above, Government of India through PFRDA has released co-contribution for the FY 2015-16 for 16.96 lakh eligible subscribers amounting to Rs. 99.57 crores. The Subscribers who have any pending contributions in their APY account till March 2016 won't be paid with co-contribution. They have been advised by PFRDA to regularize their APY account so as to get Government of India co-contribution in the month of September. Government of India co-contribution is payable only when accounts are regular and the admissible Government of India co-contribution is paid into the Savings Bank account of the Subscribers.

Atal Pension Yojana, provides minimum guaranteed pension ranging between Rs. 1000/- to Rs. 5000/- per month for the subscriber from the age of 60 years. The Same amount of pension is paid to the spouse in case of subscriber’s demise. After the demise of both i.e. Subscriber & Spouse, the nominee would be paid the pension corpus. There is also option for Spouse to continue to contribute in APY account of subscriber for balance period, on premature death of subscriber before 60 years, so that pension can be availed by Spouse. Also, if the actual returns on the pension contributions during the accumulation phase is higher than the assumed returns for the minimum guaranteed pension, such excess returns are passed on to the subscriber, resulting in enhanced scheme benefits.

PIB

PFRDA: ATAL PENSION YOJANA – BENEFITS AND FEATURES

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority

First Floor, ICADR Building, Plot No 6, Institutional Area Phase II,

Vasant Kunj, New Delhi-110070

ATAL PENSION YOJANA – BENEFITS AND FEATURES

1. Anybody in the age group of 18-40 years can join !!

2. You can choose your pension plan from Rs 1,000/- to Rs 5,000/- per month.

3. Your contribution depends on your age and the pension plan you choose!

4. You can be a member of any existing PF/Pension scheme such as EPF/PPF/Govt. pension and still join APY!

5. You can be an Income tax payer and still join APY.

6. For (4) and (5) above, Govt. Co-contribution is not available but Govt. guarantee for pension will be available!

7. Govt. Co-contribution of 50% of subscribers’ contribution or Rs 1,000/- per annum, whichever is lower will be available for five years only to subscribers joining by 31st December 2015.

The monthly contribution chart for different age groups and pension amounts is given below:

Joining Age	Years of Contribution	Indicative Monthly Contribution under APY (Rs.)
		Monthly pension of Rs. 1000. Indicative return of corpus Rs 1.70 lacs	Monthly pension of Rs. 2000. Indicative return of corpus Rs3.40 lacs	Monthly pension of Rs. 3000. Indicative return of corpus Rs 5.10 lacs	Monthly pension of Rs. 4000. Indicative return of corpus Rs 6.80 lacs	Monthly pension of Rs. 5000. Indicative return of corpus Rs 8.50 lacs
18	42	42	84	126	168	210
19	41	46	92	138	183	228
20	40	50	100	150	198	248
21	39	54	108	162	215	269
22	38	59	117	177	234	292
23	37	64	127	192	254	318
24	36	70	139	208	277	346
25	35	76	151	226	301	376
26	34	82	164	246	327	409
27	33	90	178	268	356	446
28	32	97	194	292	388	485
29	31	106	212	318	423	529
30	30	116	231	347	462	577
31	29	126	252	379	504	630
32	28	138	276	414	551	689
33	27	151	302	453	602	752
34	26	165	330	495	659	824
35	25	181	362	543	722	902
36	24	198	396	594	792	990
37	23	218	436	654	870	1,087
38	22	240	480	720	957	1,196
39	21	264	528	792	1,054	1,318
40	20	291	582	873	1164	1454

SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION FORM AT YOUR BANK BRANCH

For more information, Please call on our APY Toll free No. 1800110069

Source: PFRDA

Investment guidelines for NPS Schemes (Applicable to Scheme CG, Scheme SG, Corporate CG and NPS Lite schemes of NPS and Atal Pension Yojana) w.e.f, 10th June, 2015

Investment guidelines for NPS Schemes (Applicable to Scheme CG, Scheme SG, Corporate CG and NPS Lite schemes of NPS and Atal Pension Yojana) w.e.f, 10th June, 2015.

Pension Fund Regulatory

& Development Authority

1st Floor, ICADR Building,

Plot No. 6, Vasant Kunj

Institutional Area, Phase-I,

New Delhi – 110070

 

CIRCULAR

PFRDA/2015/16/PFM/7

Date: 03rd June, 2015

Sub: Investment guidelines for NPS Schemes (Applicable to Scheme CG, Scheme SG, Corporate CG and NPS Lite schemes of NPS and Atal Pension Yojana) w.e.f, 10th June, 2015.

Category	Investment Pattern	Percentage amount to be invested
(i)	Government Securities and Related Investments (a) Government Securities, (b) Other Securities {‘Securities’ as defined in section 2(h) of the Securities Contracts (Regulation) Act, 1956} the principal whereof and interest whereon is fully and unconditionally guaranteed by the Central Government or any State Government. The portfolio invested under this sub-category of securities shall not be in excess of 10% of the total portfolio of the G-Sec in the concerned NPS Scheme of the pension fund at any point of time. (c) Units of Mutual Funds set up as dedicated funds for investment in Govt. securities and regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India: Provided that the portfolio invested in such mutual funds shall not be more than 5% of the of the G-Sec in the concerned NPS Scheme of the pension fund at any point of time and fresh investments made in them shall not exceed 5% of the fresh accretions in the year.	Upto 50%
(ii)	Debt Instruments and Related Investments (a) Listed (or proposed to be listed in case of fresh issue) debt securities issued by bodies corporate, including banks and public financial institutions (Public Financial Institutions’ as defined under Section 2 of the Companies Act, 2013), which have a minimum residual maturity period of three years from the date of investment. (b) Basel III Tier-1 bonds issued by scheduled commercial banks under RBI Guidelines: Provided that in case of initial offering of the bonds the investment shall be made only in such Tier-I bonds which are proposed to be listed. Provided further that investment shall be made in such bonds of a scheduled commercial bank from the secondary market only if such Tier I bonds are listed. Total portfolio invested in this sub-category, at any time, shall not be more than 2% of the total portfolio of the fund. No investment in this sub-category in initial offerings shall exceed 20% of the initial offering. Further, at any point of time, the aggregate value of Tier I bonds of any particular bank held by the fund shall not exceed 20% of such bonds issued by that Bank (c) Rupee Bonds having an outstanding maturity of at least 3 years issued by institutions of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, International Finance Corporation and Asian Development Bank. (d) Term Deposit receipts of not less than one year duration issued by scheduled commercial banks, which satisfy the following conditions on the basis of published annual report(s) for the most recent years, as required to have been published by them under law: (i) having declared profit in the immediately preceding three financial years; (ii) maintaining a minimum Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio of 9%, or mandated by prevailing RBI norms, whichever is higher; (iii) having net non-performing assets of not more than 4% of the net advances; (iv) having a minimum net worth of not less than Rs. 200 crores. (e) Units of Debt Mutual Funds as regulated by Securities and Exchange Board of India: (f) The following infrastructure related debt instruments: (i) Listed (or proposed to be listed in case of fresh issue) debt securities issued by body corporates engaged mainly in the business of development or operation and maintenance of infrastructure, or development, construction or finance of low cost housing. Further, this category shall also include securities issued by Indian Railways or any of the body corporates in which it has majority shareholding. This category shall also include securities issued by any Authority of the Government which is not a body corporate and· has been formed mainly with the purpose of promoting development of infrastructure. It is further clarified that any structural obligation undertaken or letter of comfort issued by the Central Government, Indian Railways or any Authority of the Central Government, for any security issued by a body corporate engaged in the business of infrastructure, which notwithstanding the terms in the letter of comfort or the obligation undertaken, fails to enable its inclusion as security covered under category (i) (b) above, shall be treated as an eligible security under this sub-category. (ii) Infrastructure and affordable housing Bonds issued by any scheduled commercial bank, which meets the conditions specified in (ii)(d) above. (iii) Listed (or proposed to be listed in case of fresh issue) securities issued by Infrastructure debt funds operating as a Non-Banking Financial Company and regulated by Reserve Bank of India. (iv) Listed (or proposed to be listed in case of fresh issue) units issued by Infrastructure Debt Funds operating as a Mutual Fund and regulated by Securities and Exchange Board of India. It is clarified that, barring exceptions mentioned above, for the purpose of this sub-category (f), a sector shall be treated as part of infrastructure as per Government of India’s harmonized master-list of infrastructure sub-sectors: Provided that the investment under sub-categories (a), (b) and (f) (i) to (iv) of this category No. (ii) shall be made only in such securities which have minimum AA rating or equivalent in the applicable rating scale from at least two credit rating agencies registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India under Securities and Exchange Board of India (Credit Rating Agency) Regulation, 1999. Provided further that in case of the sub-category (f) (iii) the ratings shall relate to the Non-Banking Financial Company and for the subcategory (f) (iv) the ratings shall relate to the investment in eligible securities rated above investment grade of the scheme of the fund. Provided further that if the securities/entities have been rated by more than two rating agencies, the two lowest of all the ratings shall be considered. Provided further that investments under this category requiring a minimum AA rating, as specified above, shall be permissible in securities having investment grade rating below AA in case the risk of default for such securities is fully covered with Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) issued under Guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India and purchased along with the underlying securities. Purchase amount of such Swaps shall be considered to be investment made under this category. For sub-category (c), a single rating of AA or above by a domestic or international rating agency will be acceptable. It is clarified that debt securities covered under category (i) (b) above are excluded from this category (ii).	Upto 45%
( iii)	Short-term Debt Instruments and Related Investments  Money market instruments:Provided that investment in commercial paper issued by body corporates shall be made only in such instruments which have minimum rating of A 1 + by at least two credit rating agencies registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Provided further that if commercial paper has been rated by more than two rating agencies, the two lowest of the ratings shall be considered. Provided further that investment in this sub-category in Certificates of Deposit of up to one year duration issued by scheduled commercial banks, will require the bank to satisfy all conditions mentioned in category (ii) (d) above. (b) Units of liquid mutual funds regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India with the condition that the average total asset under management of AMC for the most recent six month period of atleast Rs. 5000/- crores (c) Term Deposit Receipts of up to one year duration issued by such scheduled commercial banks which satisfy all conditions mentioned in category (ii) (d) above.	Upto 5%
(iv)	Equities and Related Investments  Shares of body corporates listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (B SE) or National Stock Exchange (NSE), which have: (i) Market capitalization of not less than Rs. 5000 crore as on the date of investment and (ii) Derivatives with the shares as underlying traded in either of the two stock exchanges. (b) Units of mutual funds regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India, which have minimum 65% of their investment in shares of body, corporates listed on BSE or NSE. (c) Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)/lndex Funds regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India that replicate the portfolio of either BSE Sensex Index or NSE Nifty 50 Index. (d) ETFs issued by SEBI regulated Mutual Funds constructed specifically for disinvestment of shareholding of the Government of India in body corporates. (e) Exchange traded derivatives regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India having the underlying of any permissible listed stock or any of the permissible indices, with the sole purpose of hedging. Provided that the portfolio invested in derivatives in terms of contract value shall not be in excess of 5% of the total portfolio invested in sub-categories (a) to (d) above.	Upto 15%
(v)	Asset Backed, Trust Structured and Miscellaneous Investments (a) Commercial mortgage based Securities or Residential mortgage based securities. (b) Units issued by Real Estate Investment Trusts regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. (c) Asset Backed Securities regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. (d) Units of Infrastructure Investment Trusts regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Provided that investment under this category No. (v) shall only be in listed instruments or fresh issues that are proposed to be listed. Provided further that investment under this category shall be made only in such securities which have minimum AA or equivalent rating in the applicable rating scale from at least two credit rating agencies registered by the Securities and Exchange Board of India under Securities and Exchange Board of India (Credit Rating Agency) Regulations, 1999. Provided further that in case of the sub-categories (b) and (d) the ratings shall relate to the rating of the sponsor entity floating the trust. Provided further that if the securities/entities have been rated by more than two rating agencies, the two lowest of the ratings shall be considered.	Upto 5%

 

2. Fresh accretions to the fund will be .invested in the permissible categories specified in this investment pattern in a manner consistent with the above specified maximum permissible percentage amounts to be invested in each such investment category, while also complying with such other restrictions as made applicable for various sub-categories of the permissible investments.

 

3. Fresh accretions to the funds shall be the sum of un-invested funds from the past and receipts like contributions to the funds, dividend/interest/commission, maturity amounts of earlier investments etc., as reduced by obligatory outgo during the financial year.

 

4. Proceeds arising out of exercise of put option, tenure or asset switch or trade of any asset before maturity can be invested in any of the permissible categories described above in the manner that at any given point of time the percentage of assets under that category should not exceed the maximum limit prescribed for that category and also should not exceed the maximum limit prescribed for the sub-categories, if any. However, asset switch because of any RBI mandated Government debt switch would not be covered under this restriction.

 

5. If for any of the instruments mentioned above the rating falls below the minimum permissible investment grade prescribed for investment in that instrument when it was purchased, as confirmed by one credit rating agency, the option of exit shall be considered and exercised, as appropriate, in a manner that is in the best interest of the subscribers.

 

6. On these guidelines coming into effect, the above prescribed investment pattern shall be achieved separately for each successive financial year through timely and appropriate planning.

 

7. The prudent investment of the funds within the prescribed pattern is the fiduciary responsibility of the Pension Funds and Trust and needs to be exercised with appropriate due diligence. The Trust and Pension Fund would accordingly be responsible for investment decisions taken to invest the funds

 

8. The Pension Funds and trust will take suitable steps to control and optimize the cost of management of the fund.

 

9. i. The trust and Pension Funds will ensure that the process of investment is accountable and transparent.

ii. It will be ensured that due diligence is carried out to assess risks associated with any particular asset before investment is made by the fund in that particular asset and also during the period over which it is held by the fund. The requirement of ratings as mandated in this notification merely intends to limit the risk associated with investments at a broad and general level. Accordingly, it should not be construed in any manner as an endorsement for investment in any asset satisfying the minimum prescribed rating or a substitute for the due diligence prescribed for being carried out by the fund

 

10. Due caution will be exercised to ensure that the same investments are not churned with a view to enhancing the fee payable. In this regard, commissions for investments in Category Ill instruments will be carefully charged, in particular.

 

11. Following restrictions/filters are being imposed for Government NPS schemes (Applicable to Government Sector, Corporate CG and NPS Lite schemes of NPS and Atal Pension Yojana) to reduce concentration risks in the NPS investment of the subscribers:

a) NPS investments have been restricted to 5% of the ‘paid up equity capital’* of all the sponsor group companies or 5% of the total AUM under Equity exposure whichever is lower, in each respective scheme and 10% in the paid up equity capital of all the non-sponsor group companies or 10% of the total AUM under Equity exposure whichever is lower, in each respective scheme.

*’Paid up share capital': Paid up share capital means market value of paid up and subscribed equity capital.

b) NPS investments have been restricted to 5% of the ‘net-worth” of all the sponsor group companies or 5% of the total AUM in debt securities (excluding Govt. securities) whichever is lower in each respective scheme and 10% of the net-worth of all the non-sponsor group companies or 10% of the total AUM in debt securities (excluding Govt. securities) whichever is lower, in each respective scheme.

#Net Worth: Net worth would comprise of Paid-up capital plus Free Reserves including Share Premium but excluding Revaluation Reserves, plus Investment Fluctuation Reserve and credit balance in Profit & Loss account, less debit balance in Profit and Loss account, Accumulated Losses and Intangible Assets.

c) Investment exposure to a single Industry has been restricted to 15% under all NPS Schemes by each Pension Fund Manager as per Level-5 of NIC classification. Investment in scheduled commercial bank FDs would be exempted from exposure to Banking Sector.

d) if the PF makes investments in Equity/Debt instruments, in addition to the investments in Index funds/ETF/Debt MF, the exposure limits under such Index funds/ETF/Debt MF should be considered for compliance of the prescribed the Industry Concentration, Sponsor/ Non Sponsor group norms. (For example, if on account of investment in Index Funds/ ETFs/Debt MFs, if any of the concentration limits are being breached than further investment should not be made in the relative Industry /Company).

12. These instructions supersede only part of Investment Guidelines for NPS Schemes Applicable to Government Sector, Corporate CG and NPS Lite schemes of NPS prescribed by PFRDA vide Circular No. PFRDA/2014/02/PFM/1 dated 29.01.2014 and will be effective from 101h June 2015.

 

13. Investment Guidelines for NPS Private Sector {applicable to E(Tier-1& II), C (Tier-I & 11) and G (Tier-I & II)} will be unchanged until further orders .

(Sumeet Kaur Kapoor)

General Manager

Source: http://pfrda.org.in/MyAuth/Admin/showimg.cshtml?ID=705

PFRDA Order: Incentive for mobilization and registration of subscribers under Atal Pension Yojana

PFRDA Order: Incentive for mobilization and registration of subscribers under Atal Pension Yojana

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

1st Floor, ICADR Building, Plot No. 6.

Vasant Kunj Institutional Area,

Phase – II, New Delhi – 110070

No. PFRDAIAPY/4/62

19th May, 2015

To,
All Banks under APY
Sir,

Subject: Incentive for mobilization and registration of subscribers under Atal Pension Yojana.

I am directed to say that incentive structure for Banks to mobilize and register subscriber under Atal Pension Yojana has been under the consideration of PFRDA.

2. In consultation with the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, it has been decided that for mobilizing each account the Banks will be paid an incentive as per the table below:

i. Per capita incentive at Rs 100
ii. Incentive payable for promotion and development of APY:

S no	Number of subscribers under APY with each Bank	Incentive for promotional efforts (only for new accounts opened during the year)
1	Less than 1 lakh	Rs 20/-
2	More than 1 lakh upto 3 lakh	Rs 30/-
3	More than 3 lakh upto 5 lakh	Rs 40/-
4	More than 5 lakh	Rs 50/-

As Banks are expected to engage the Banking Correspondents (BCs) / Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) / Non-bank aggregators to mobilize the subscribers, they can Share the incentives with such BCs / MFIs / Non-bank aggregators etc. in the ratio 50:50 :: Banks : BCs/MFIs/ Non-bank aggregators.

 

3. Banks are advised to contact aggregators for shifting of existing eligible Swavalamban subscribers to APY as per the scheme.

 

4. Payment of incentives to banks each year will be made after the completion of the financial year on receipt of funds from the government.

Yours sincerely,

(Purnima Sharma)

Dy. General Manager

Source: http://pfrda.org.in/WriteReadData/Links/Incentive%20Structure%20for%20APY5c598c21-5021-481a-8866-16213d2d1343.pdf