NPS Pension Scheme: Many facilities are being provided by the government to pensioners across the country. Now a plan is being made by PFRDA to provide NPS facility in all the bank branches, so that everyone can easily get the benefit of pension.
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Chairman Deepak Mohanty has said that to make NPS pension easily accessible to the people, efforts are being made to make it available in all bank branches and post offices.
People of villages and towns will also be able to take benefit
He said that the authority has connected regional rural banks and bank representatives for the distribution of the New Pension System (NPS), so that people even in villages and small towns will be able to easily avail the benefits of this pension scheme. PFRDA has roped in almost all the banks for the sale of NPS, but this product is not available in all the branches of the banks.
Said this to the media
Mohanty said in an interview with PTI that to make the pension product NPS easily available to the people, we are trying to make it available in all bank branches and post offices. We have also discussed this matter at the top management level but ultimately the decision has to be taken by the banks.
You can also avail the benefits of NPS from RRB
He has said that we have also included Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) to make it accessible to all people in villages and small towns under the NPS ‘model’. In this way, now NPS can be taken from RRB also. Apart from this, permission has also been given to take NPS through bank representative (banking correspondent).
Target to add 13 lakh shareholders
Mohanty has said that in the current financial year, we aim to add a total of 13 lakh shareholders under NPS from the private sector, whereas in the last financial year we had added 10 lakh shareholders.
Information obtained from official data
According to official data, the total number of people connected to NPS as of September 16, 2023 was 1.36 crore (except NPS Lite). The number of customers under Atal Pension Yojana is five crore.
PFRDA manages APY and NPS
PFRDA manages NPS and Atal Pension Yojana. In Atal Pension Yojana, where pension is fixed on the basis of contribution amount. At the same time, in NPS, after completing the age of 60 years, it is mandatory to purchase pension products with at least 40 percent of the total corpus.
More than 100 percent of GDP in many countries
On the question related to pension amount not being fixed in NPS, he has said that it is not practical to fix pension for a long time. In some developed countries where the pension fund is 100 percent or more of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), there is also a problem regarding this.
In India, all types of pension related assets including pension products of EPFO, life insurance etc. are 16.5 percent of the GDP. At the same time, the funds in NPS and Atal Pension Yojana are 3.6 percent of GDP.
PFRDA Chairman gave information
PFRDA Chairman has said that it is certain that the returns on NPS are very good and people can expect a good corpus in the long run. According to PFRDA, investment in equity under pension schemes has given a return of 12.84 percent since its inception. In case of government employees, the returns from NPS are up to 9.4 percent.
Commission is less in NPS
In response to another question, Mohanty said that the commission for selling NPS is low. Due to this, agents or POP (Point of Presence) i.e. banks may not be more attracted to sell NPS product, but our aim is to keep it a minimum cost product so that the customers benefit.
How much commission do you get now?
At present, banks and other POPs get a commission of half percent of the contribution amount on opening an NPS account in the private sector. In this, the minimum commission limit is Rs 30 and maximum Rs 25,000. At the same time, the commission on opening NPS account through electronic means (for citizens and tier two accounts) is 0.20 percent. In this the minimum limit is Rs 15 and maximum Rs 10,000.
Responding to another question, Mohanty said that the assets under management under NPS and APY are estimated to be at least Rs 12 lakh crore in the current financial year, which is currently Rs 10.22 lakh crore. APY’s share in the total managed funds is around Rs 35,000 crore.
