National Pension System (NPS)

Any citizen in the age group of 18-60 years (as on the date of submission of his / her application to the POP-SP) can join NPS except for the government subscribers who are mandatorily covered under NPS.

Any Individual who wants to get registered as a subscriber and wants to open a Permanent Retirement Account (PRA)(Tier I and/or Tier II) in NPS would submit the duly filled form (Composite application form for subscriber registration) with other supporting KYC documents to POP-SP. For only Tier II account, an individual with an active Tier I account needs to approach the associated POP-SP and submit a copy of the PRAN Card along with Tier II activation form (UOS-S10).
A subscriber is required to make the first contribution at the time of applying for registration. (Minimum contribution Rs.500 for Tier I and Rs.1000 for Tier II ) with duly filled NCIS (NPS Contribution Instruction Slip).
PRAN Card is despatched to the registered address within 20 days from the day of receipt of duly filled registration form at the CRA-FC office. During this period, a subscriber can go to https://cra-nsdl.com/CRA and check the status of PRAN kit in CRA website https://cra-nsdl.com/CRA using the 17 digit receipt number provided by POP-SP. The subscriber can also contact his / her associated POP-SP. In case the application form is not filled with all the required details, CRA-FC will not accept the registration form. CRA-FC will intimate subscribers POP - SP regarding rejection of forms.

To contribute in Tier I and Tier II account, the subscriber needs to deposit the contribution amount along with duly filled NCIS (NPS Contribution Instruction Slip) to any POP-SP.

A subscriber is required to make his / her first contribution at the time of applying for registration at any POP-SP with NCIS (NPS Contribution Instruction Slip) form.
Subscriber is required to make contributions subject to the following conditions:

• Minimum amount at the time of Account opening - Rs 500
• Minimum amount per contribution - Rs 500
• Minimum contribution per year - Rs 6,000

Over and above the mandated limit of a minimum of one contribution, a subscriber may decide on the frequency of the contributions across the year as per his / her convenience. No maximum limit has been mandated.
For Tier II, minimum contribution requirements:

• Minimum contribution at the time of account opening - Rs.1000
• Minimum amount per contribution - Rs.250
• Maintain minimum balance of Rs.2000 at the end of each financial year

In both Tier I and Tier II account has to be atleast one contribution in a financial year.

The subscriber will have to bear a default penalty of Rs. 100 per year of default and the account would become dormant. In order to reactivate the account, the subscriber would have to pay the minimum contributions along with the penalty, due for the period of dormancy. The dormant account shall be closed if the account value falls to zero.

At present, the tax treatment for contribution in Tier I account is EET, "Exempted-Exempted-Taxed" i.e., the amount contributed is entitled for deduction from gross total income upto Rs. 1.00 lac (along with other prescribed investments) as per section 80C (as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as amended from time to time). The appreciation accrued on the contribution and the amount used by the subscriber to buy the annuity are not taxable, Only the amount withdrawn by the subscriber after the age of 60 is taxable.

Only an Individual can be a nominee. Subscriber can nominate maximum of 3 nominees. Subscriber cannot fill the same nominee details more than once. Percentage share value for all the nominees must be integer. Decimals/fractional values shall not be accepted in the nomination(s). Sum of percentage share across all the nominees must be equal to 100. If sum of percentage is not equal to 100, entire nomination will be rejected. If a nominee is a minor, then nominee's date of birth and guardian details shall be mandatory. The registration of nominee details will not be done unless all details are duly filled up in the form. A Subscriber may refer the instructions for nominations available in the registration form (UoS-S1).

Subscriber has the option of chosing any one of following entities appointed by PFRDA to manage the investment:

• ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company Limited
• IDFC Pension Fund Management Company Limited
• Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Limited
• Reliance Capital Pension Fund Limited
• SBI Pension Funds Private Limited
• UTI Retirement Solutions Limited
• Birla Sunlife Pension Management Limited
• LIC Pension Fund Limited

If a subscriber wishes to exit from NPS before attaining the age of 60, he/she can withdraw upto 20% of the sum accumulated till that point of time. The subscriber has to buy annuity with the rest of the money. If a subscriber dies before attaining the age of 60, the entire sum goes to the nominee. The beneficiary submits a withdrawal request to the associated POPSP who will enter the request in the CRA system. After the request is processed, a cheque is issued favouring the beneficiary and forwarded to the associated POP.

If a subscriber wishes to exit from NPS before attaining the age of 60, he/she can withdraw upto 20% of the sum accumulated till that point of time. The subscriber has to buy annuity with the rest of the money. The commencement of the annuity depends on the annuity plan / scheme offered by the ASPs. If minimum contributions are not made as stipulated, the account will be frozen and can be reactivated only by paying the penalty.

In order to withdraw from Tier II account, the subscriber needs to submit a duly filled UOS-S12 form to the associated POP-SP. If the request is entered and authorised in CRA system by the POP/POPSP before 1.30 PM, then it goes for same day's processing, or else it goes for the next business day. The redemption amount may vary due to the variation of NAV. Units are redeemed based on the NAV declared at the end of the processing day. On T+3 days, (T being the date of processing) the funds are transferred from the Trustee Bank to subscriber's bank account as registered in the CRA system.

At any point of time before 60 years of age, a subscriber would be required to invest at least 80% of the pension wealth to purchase a life annuity from any IRDA - regulated life insurance company. Rest 20% of the pension wealth can be withdrawn as lump sum.
On attaining the age of 60 years, a subscriber would be required to invest minimum 40% of his / her accumulated savings (pension wealth) to purchase a life annuity from any IRDA - regulated life insurance company.
A subscriber may choose to purchase an annuity for an amount greater than 40%. The remaining pension wealth can either be withdrawn in a lump sum on attaining the age of 60 or in a phased manner, between age 60 and 70, at the option of the subscriber.
In case of death of the subscriber, option will be available to the nominee to receive 100% of the NPS pension wealth in lump sum. However, if the nominee wishes to continue with the NPS, he shall have to subscribe to NPS individually after following due KYC procedure.
Subscriber can raise a grievance through Call Centre using T-PIN or through CRA website https://cra-nsdl.com/CRA using I-PIN. A subscriber can also contact his / her POP-SP, who can also raise a grievance on his/her behalf. Subscriber can check the status of the grievance in CRA website. A subscriber can also forward a duly filled G1 Form to CRA for logging a grievance.

It is applicable to all citizens in the unorganized sector who can join the NPS administered by the PFRDA.

Under the scheme, Govt. will contribute Rs.1000 per year to each NPS account opened in the year 2010-11 and for the next three years, that is, 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. As a special case and in recognition of their faith in the NPS, all NPS accounts opened in 2009-10 will be entitled to the benefit of Government contribution if they fulfil the eligibility criteria prescribed under these guidelines.

Minimum contribution should be Rs. 1,000 per annum (Financial year) in Tier I account and maximum contribution should be Rs. 12,000 per annum (Financial year) in both Tier I as well as Tier II account together.