Atal Pension Yojana
The Indian government is concerned about the working poor’s ability to sustain their quality of life in old age and focuses on helping them save money for retirement. It aims to reduce lifespan risks among unorganized sector workers and encourage them to invest freely for their retirement.
As a result, the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was introduced by the Indian government in the 2015–16 budget. All residents of the unorganized sector are the target audience for APY. Through the NPS framework, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) oversees the administration of the program.
What is Atal Pension Yojana?
India’s Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is a pension program focusing on unorganized sector workers. According to APY, a guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3000, Rs 4000, or Rs 5000 per month will be provided to participants upon reaching accordance with APY, a guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3000, Rs 4000, or Rs 5000 per month will be provided to participants upon reaching the age of 60. Any Indian citizen may participate in the APY program.
Who is can eligible for APY?
1 Any Indian citizen may join the APY scheme.
The requirements for eligibility are as follows:
(i) The subscriber must be between the ages of 18 and 40.
(ii) He or she ought to have a savings account with a bank or a post office savings account.
2. To make it easier for them to receive frequent updates on their APY account, the potential candidate may supply the bank with their Aadhaar number and mobile number while registering. Aadhaar is not necessary for enrollment, though.
Who does not eligible?
On the basis of the following factors, the following individuals are not eligible for government contributions.
- When he pays taxes on his income.
- If he is protected by a Social Security plan or an employee pension plan.
- NRIs (non-resident Indians) are not permitted to open accounts. The account will be closed and the whole contribution plus any interest earned on it will be paid to the account holder if an Indian citizen changes his or her status to NRI while the APS scheme is still in effect.
What is the withdrawal procedure from APY?
A. At the age of 60 years
On attaining the age of 60, subscribers will make a request to the affiliated bank for a guaranteed minimum monthly pension or a higher monthly pension if investment returns exceed the guaranteed returns included in the APY. The spouse (the default nominee) will get the same monthly pension upon the subscriber’s passing, and the spouse (the default nominee) will get the same monthly pension. Upon the death of both the subscriber and spouse, the nominee will be eligible for the return of pension wealth earned up to the subscriber turns 60.
B. Death of the subscriber due to any cause after the age of 60 years
In the situation of the subscriber’s death, the spouse would be eligible for the pension, and in the event that both the subscriber and the spouse passed away, the nominee would receive the subscriber’s pension worth up to the age of 60.
C. Leave early as the age of 60
Withdrawal of one’s own choice is allowed in APY. Suppose a subscriber who has taken advantage of the Government co-contribution under APY decides to leave voluntarily at a later time. In that case, he will only receive a reimbursement for the payments he made to APY and the net actual accrued income he earned on those contributions (after deducting the account maintenance charges). Such subscribers will not get a refund of the government co-contribution or accrued interest on the government co-contribution.
D. Death of the subscriber before 60 years
- The subscriber’s spouse will have the option to continue making contributions to the APY account of the 9 subscribers if the subscriber passes away before reaching the age of 60. This option will be available for the remainder of the vesting period and until the original subscriber is reached. The subscriber’s spouse is entitled to receive the same pension payment as the subscriber.
- Or, the entire accumulated corpus under APY will be returned to the spouse/nominee.
Fee for default
As indicated below, banks must collect an additional sum from late payments that range from a minimum of Rs. 1 per month to Rs. 10 per month:
- For monthly contributions up to Rs. 100, 1 per month.
- 2 per month for contributions between and for a range of 101 to 500.
- 5 per month for contributions between Rs. 501/- and Rs. 1,000/- each month.
- For contributions over Rs. per month, the rate is Rs. 1001/- per month.
The subscriber’s pension corpus will continue to include the predetermined amount of interest or penalty.
All Charges and Fees of APY
| Intermediary | Charge Head | Service charge | Method of collection |
| Points of Presence | (i) Initial subscriber registration
(ii) Subsequent Persistence |
Rs.120/- to 150/-, depending upon the number of subscribers.
Rs.100/- per annum per subscriber. |
Paid by the Government as an incentive, promotion, and development charge for APY, on the pattern of Swavalamban |
| Central Recordkeeping Agencies | (i) Account opening Charge
(ii) Account Maintenance Charges |
Rs.15/- per account. Rs. 40/- per account per annum. | Cancellation of units. |
| Pension Fund Managers | Investment Management Fee | 0.0102% per annum of AUM | Adjusted in Net Asset Value |