All About Atal Pension Yojana (APY)?

The union government created the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) in 2015 to provide Indians with a universal social security system. The system, which is supervised by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), was designed to aid the poor, underprivileged, and unorganised sector workers. A subscriber can join the APY scheme at a post office or a public or private sector bank branch. The scheme accepts applications in both online and offline formats. The union government will get a 50 percent additional contribution of the subscriber's total contribution, or Rs. 1000 per year, whichever is smaller.

An APY account can be funded on a monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly basis. Changes in contribution frequency, such as from quarterly to monthly contributions, can be made if the APY subscriber submits a written request to the APY service provider branch. An APY subscriber can change their pension amount once each fiscal year.

Advantages:

According to the government, at the age of 60, a subscriber will get a guaranteed minimum monthly pension of Rs. 1000, Rs. 2000, Rs. 3000, Rs. 4000, or Rs. 5000. The subscriber will receive the monthly pension; in the event of his or her death, the spouse will receive it. The subscriber's pension corpus, as accrued at age 60, would be returned to the subscriber's nominee after their death. According to a government document, "The Central Government would finance any inadequacy if the accumulated corpus based on contributions produces a lower than expected return on investment and is insufficient to deliver the minimum guaranteed income. Alternatively, if investment returns are higher, subscribers will receive increased pension payments."

Approximate monthly contribution to obtain a pension of Rs. 1000:

Age of joining Years of contribution Indicative monthly contribution

18 42 42

30 30 116

40 20 291

Who is eligible to participate in the Atal Pension Yojana (APY)?

The system will be open to anyone who is not a recipient of any social security program and is not a tax payer. To apply for the APY system, you must be an Indian citizen between the ages of 18 and 40. It is open to everybody with a bank account, however the contributions vary depending on the pension amount chosen. In the APY account, one must give nomination and spouse information. If a subscriber dies before reaching the age of 60, his or her spouse will be eligible to continue making contributions to the scheme using the same APY account. Until the original subscriber reaches the age of 60, the spouse can contribute for the remainder of the vesting period.

APY customers can also access their contributions, transaction statements, and e-Permanent Retirement Account Number (e-PRAN) cards using a mobile application.

A duly filled 'Account Closure Form (Voluntary Exit) form' and other related papers must be presented to the respective APY service provider branch to close an APY account. The form is also available at www.npscra.nsdl.co.in.