To address the longevity risks among the workers in unorganised sector and to encourage the workers in unorganised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement, who constitute 88% of the total labour force of 47. However, coverage under Swavalamban Scheme is inadequate mainly due to lack of guaranteed pension benefits at the age of 60. Therefore, it has been announced that the Government will launch the Atal Pension Yojana APY , which will provide a defined pension, depending on the contribution, and its period. The APY will be focussed on all citizens in the unorganised sector, who join the National Pension System NPS administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority PFRDA. Under the APY, the subscribers would receive the fixed minimum pension of Rs. The minimum age of joining APY is 18 years and maximum age is 40 years. Therefore, minimum period of contribution by any subscriber under APY would be 20 years or more. The benefit of fixed minimum pension would be guaranteed by the Government. The APY would be introduced from 1 st June, 2015. Benefit of APY 2. The contribution levels would vary and would be low if subscriber joins early and increase if he joins late. Eligibility for APY 3. The Central Government would also co-contribute 50% of the total contribution or Rs. However the scheme will continue after this date but Government Co-contribution will not be available. Age of joining and contribution period 4. The age of exit and start of pension would be 60 years. Therefore, minimum period of contribution by the subscriber under APY would be 20 years or more. Focus of APY 5. Enrolment and Subscriber Payment 6. The subscribers should keep the required balance in their savings bank accounts on the stipulated due dates to avoid any late payment penalty. Due dates for monthly contribution payment is arrived based on the deposit of first contribution amount. In case of repeated defaults for specified period, the account is liable for foreclosure and the GoI co-contributions, if any shall be forfeited. For enrolment, Aadhaar would be the primary KYC document for identification of beneficiaries, spouse and nominees to avoid pension rights and entitlement related disputes in the long-term. The subscribers are required to opt for a monthly pension from Rs. The subscribers can opt to decrease or increase pension amount during the course of accumulation phase, as per the available monthly pension amounts. However, the switching option shall be provided once in year during the month of April. Each subscriber will be provided with an acknowledgement slip after joining APY which would invariably record the guaranteed pension amount, due date of contribution payment, PRAN etc. Operational Framework of APY 8. The Institutional Architecture of NPS would be utilised to enrol subscribers under APY. The offer document of APY including the account opening form would be formulated by PFRDA. Funding of APY 9. Migration of existing subscribers of Swavalamban Scheme to APY 10. However, the benefit of five years of government Co-contribution under APY would not exceed 5 years for all subscribers. This would imply that if, as a Swavalamban beneficiary, he has received the benefit of government Co-Contribution of 1 year, then the Government co-contribution under APY would be available only 4 years and so on. Existing Swavalamban beneficiaries opting out from the proposed APY will be given Government co-contribution till 2016-17, if eligible, and the NPS Swavalamban continued till such people attained the age of exit under that scheme. For seamless migration to the new scheme, the associated aggregator will facilitate those subscribers for completing the process of migration. Those subscribers may also approach the nearest authorised bank branch for shifting their Swavalamban account into APY with PRAN details. Penalty for default 11. Banks are required to collect additional amount for delayed payments, such amount will vary from minimum Rs. Operation of additional amount for delayed payments 12. Bank can recover amount any day till the last day of the month. It will imply that contribution are recovered as and when funds are available any point during the month. Monthly contribution will be recovered along with the monthly fixed due amount, if any. In all cases, the contribution is to be recovered along with the fixed charges. The due amount will be recovered as and when funds are available in the account. Investment of the contributions under APY 13. The subscriber has no option to choose either the investment pattern or Pension Fund. Continuous Information Alerts to Subscribers 14. Exit and pension payment 15. Age of Joining, Contribution Levels, Fixed Monthly Pension and Return of Corpus to the nominee of subscribers 16. For example, to get a fixed monthly pension between Rs. For the same fixed pension levels, the contribution would range between Rs. Table of contribution levels, fixed monthly pension of Rs. Monthly Pension to the subscribers and his spouse in Rs. Indicative Return of Corpus to the nominee of the subscribers in Rs. Monthly Pension to the subscribers and his spouse in Rs. Indicative Return of Corpus to the nominee of the subscribers in Rs. Monthly Pension to the subscribers and his spouse in Rs. Indicative Return of Corpus to the nominee of the subscribers in Rs. Monthly Pension to the subscribers and his spouse in Rs. Indicative Return of Corpus to the nominee of the subscribers in Rs. Monthly Pension to the subscribers and his spouse in Rs. Indicative Return of Corpus to the nominee of the subscribers in Rs.
