Questions

Answer

What is the
role of PFRDA?

As per PFRDA Act 2013, PFRDA
is a Regulatory Authority to promote old age income
security by establishing, regulating and developing pension funds, to protect the interest of subscribers to schemes

of pension funds and for matters connected therewith or
incidental thereto.

What is National Pension System?

“National Pension System” (NPS) means the contributory
pension system referred to in section 20 of
PFRDA Act whereby contributions from a employee/subscriber are
collected and accumulated in an individual
pension account called PRAN using a system of Govt. nodal offices, central
recordkeeping agencies and pension
funds as may be specified by regulations and on exit such collected amounts
are paid along with returns
thereon, partly in lump-sum to the employee-subscriber and partly (at least
40% of the accumulated amount) as
annuities/ periodic pension through the Annuity Service Providers which are
life insurance companies.

The Central Government has introduced the Defined
Contribution based Pension System known as the National Pension System
(NPS) replacing the system of Defined Benefit
Pension with effect
from January 01, 2004 vide the Ministry of Finance (Department of Economic Affairs) notification No 5/7/2003 PR dated 22/12/2003. All State
Governments (except Tamilnadu, Tripura & West Bengal) have also implemented NPS for their
employees/ employees of the State
Autonomous Bodies from
the

specified dates,
mentioned in their
respective notifications.

Who are covered
by the NPS?

NPS is applicable to all employees joining services of
Central Government including Central Autonomous Bodies (except Armed Forces) on or after 1st January
2004.   Many State Governments have
adopted NPS architecture and
implemented NPS mandatorily through Gazette Notifications for their employees joining
from the specified dates, mentioned in their respective
notifications.

How    does    NPS             differ    from    old pension?

The old pension scheme of Government of India is based on
the last pay drawn of the employee and is paid after
certain minimum service.

NPS is referred as Defined Contribution
Pension System (DCPS) in which the employer
and employee both contribute for building a pension wealth
payable at the time of retirement/premature exit/death by way of annuity and lump-sum withdrawal as per norms.

5

What is a PRAN?

PRAN is an acronym
for Permanent Retirement Account Number, a unique number
provided to each
subscriber under NPS which
is portable across locations and
employments.

6

Are   bank 
 details,   mobile   number,

Aadhar, PAN, CKYC identifier and FATCA declaration mandatory for opening
NPS account?

As per the current Common Subscriber Registration Form (
CSRF) Bank details, mobile number, PAN, FATCA
declaration are mandatory field however, CKYC
identifier (if available with subscriber) and Aadhar details are optional information required for opening NPS account.

7

What are the KYC documents required

for generation of PRAN?

Identity and address proof are the key KYC documents. Details
of the KYC documents required are available with Composite Subscriber Registration form
(CSRF).

8

Can      PRAN      be              generated         for

employees who have already
expired/ left the organization?

No. Registration of subscribers is not permitted under
NPS who have
expired or left
the organization.

9

Can a subscriber use the same
PRAN

if
he shifts from Govt sector to Private or vice-versa/Central Govt to State
Govt or vice-versa.

Yes. As PRAN is unique and portable across employment &
location, NPS contributions can be uploaded
by the current employer in the same PRAN allotted by previous
employer, after completion of Inter- sector shifting (ISS).

10

What is the process of Inter Sector

Shifting (ISS),
how it can be
done?

A subscriber can shift from his current
sector to any other
sector like Central
Government, State Governments, All Citizens of India sector
(UOS) and Corporates through ‘Inter Sector
Shifting’ functionality. With the help of this feature, a subscriber can continue with the same PRAN irrespective of his geographical location and employment status till
he/she exits from NPS. For shifting PRAN from Government sector to UOS, the Subscriber can approach any of
the POP rendering services under NPS and submit
Form ISS-1 (Inter
Sector Shifting form).
Form ISS-1 is available on the CRA website – www.npscra.nsdl.co.in. The
target PoP will facilitate the shifting of PRAN along with accumulated NPS contributions. While for shifting from
UOS to Corporate/Govt. sector employer, subscriber may submit his ISS-1
form to such current
employer for completing ISS.

11

Can a subscriber obtain/
use more

than one
PRAN?

No, an individual is permitted to have only one PRAN which is unique, permanent and portable across
jobs/employments and locations.

If a
subscriber possesses more than one PRAN by any chance, the concerned Nodal
office can deactivate the duplicated PRAN by initiating a request with CRA.

12

Who can be a nominee and how are

the
details to be filled in the form?

Only an individual can become a nominee. Subscriber can nominate a maximum of three nominees
and a subscriber cannot fill the same nominee details more than once. Decimals/fractional
values for allocation of shares are not 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 Common Subscriber Registration Form
( CSRF)

13

Who can
become nominee under NPS?

A subscriber, at the time of joining the National Pension
System is required to make a nomination mandatorily,
in the prescribed form, conferring on one or more persons the right to
receive the amount. For the purpose of nomination referred above, the ‘family’ means

Ø 
in the case of a male subscriber, his legally
wedded wife, his children, whether married or unmarried, his
dependent parents and his
deceased son’s widow and children:

Ø 
in the case of a female subscriber, her legally wedded husband, her children, whether
married or unmarried, her dependent parents, her husband’s dependent parents and her deceased son’s widow and children.

14

What is Non-IRA PRANs? 
 What
are

the advantages &
benefits of IRA
compliance?

Non-IRA subscribers are those whose PRANs were generated on
request of their Governments based on their
few personal data but not yet submitted Common Subscriber Registration Form
(CSRF) and due to which their
addresses, photographs and signatures (i.e. complete KYC details) are not
maintained in the CRA system.

Advantages & Benefits of IRA Compliance to Subscribers:

1.      
PRAN cards are issued to all IRA
compliant subscribers.

2.      
Subscriber can check their account balance online
using I-PIN.

3.      
Subscriber can lodge
a complaint against
any entity using
I-PIN.

4.      
Subscriber can access
CRA toll free helpline using
T-PIN.

5.      
No proof of identity and address is
required during activation of Tier II account.

6.     
Value Added
Services like online email alerts, SMS alerts
etc.

15

What   one 
 should   do 
 if
there   are

changes in PRAN data?

Subscriber can update his / her details in Tier I in CRA system by submitting a change request
Form S2 to the concerned office to which the
subscriber is linked. Subscriber may make some changes in his personal information online using I-PIN
or through NPS mobile application available at Google android play
store/App store.

16

What   are 
 the 
 roles 
 of 
 Principal

Account
Office (for CG) Directorate of Treasury
& Accounts (for SG) under NPS?

The Principal Accounts Office (PrAO)/ Directorate of
Treasury & Accounts (DTA) act as the oversight authority in NPS monitoring. As per the standard operating procedure for NPS, the PrAO/DTA is required to
discharge several functions, most of which are in the nature of monitoring
performance of the registered nodal
offices under its jurisdiction. The nature of activities required to be
carried out by the PrAO/DTA may be summarized
as under:

1.      
Consolidate PAO/DTO/ Nodal
Office registration forms
and forward it to CRA for registration.

2.      
Monitor the performance of PAO/DDO/DTO/ Nodal offices in discharging their responsibilities in CRA
system.

3.       Monitor the resolution of grievances raised
against PAO/DTO/ Nodal
office

4.      
Take necessary action to ensure
compliance of PAO/DDO/DTO with the operational procedure of CRA
system and adherence to various circulars/guidelines/
regulations issued by PFRDA.

17

Is NPS applicable to employees of

Central Autonomous Bodies?

Yes. In line with the decision of GOI to introduce NPS for
new entrants joining central government services on or after
1/1/2004, it has been decided
vide OM 1(13)/EV/2001 Dt 13/11/2003 Department of Expenditure,
Ministry of Finance that all new entrants in all Autonomous Bodies
under various Central Ministries/Departments recruited on or after
1/1/2004 will also
be governed by the NPS.

18

How   can
the   Central Autonomous

Bodies join
NPS?

Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance , GOI vide
its OM No 1(13)/EV/2008 Dt 30/1/2009 advised all Central Autonomous Bodies to submit
Letter of Consent
(LOC) indicating their
formal commitment towards
discharging their obligations under NPS to
PFRDA through the Financial Advisors of their
respective Ministries/ Departments.

19

Is     transition     from     contributory

Provident Fund to Defined
Contribution Pension Scheme
(NPS) permitted for the employees of Autonomous
Bodies, who have joined prior to
01-01-2004? What will be the date of effect
in case of transition from CPF to NPS in case of employees who joined prior
to 01.01.2004? What are the salient features of this scheme?

Yes. The organizations are permitted to shift to NPS in
respect of employees who have joined before
1/1/2004 vide OM No 1(2)/EV/2007 dated 30-06-2009 issued by Department
Of Expenditure Ministry of Finance. Date of effect will be the date when
such option is exercised
by the concerned employee.

The other detailed operational features are as follows,

a.       The
existing corpus of CPF (both employees and employers’) would be transferred
to his NPS account / PRAN.

b.      In
order to facilitate the transition from CPF to NPS, the autonomous body would
make in addition one time ex gratia
payment of 10% of the employer’s contribution for each of the employees opting to switch
over to NPS.

c.       Recurring monthly
contribution by employee @ 10% of Basic Pay + DA and a matching contribution by the autonomous body would be payable.

d.      The
employer’s contribution would be payable
from the month the
organization/employee shifts over
to NPS and would be limited to 10% of Basic Pay + DA.

20

Is NPS applicable to employees of

State Autonomous Bodies?

Many State Governments have adopted NPS architecture and
implemented NPS for the employees of State Government as well as for the employees of Autonomous bodies,
State PSUs, Corporations, Boards, if notified in their respective gazette
notifications.

21

Is NPS applicable to Members of All

India
Service joining the
All India Services on or after
1/1/2004

Yes and contribution to NPS is mandatory for all members
of All India
Services joining the service on or

after 1/1/2004 as specified in No 25014/14/2001-AIS II Dt 8/9/2009 issued by Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.

22

From where 
 I 
 can 
 get
Subscriber

Information Brochure?

For accessing the latest (updated) Subscriber Information Brochure, subscribers may be visit PFRDA
website as NPS->Govt Sector Model-> Subscriber Information Brochure.

23

What is Tier I and Tier II account?
Are

they different?

Under NPS, two types of account would be available to
subscribers i.e., Tier I & Tier II. Tier I account is a pension account where a subscriber
contributes his / her savings for retirement and in this account partial
withdrawals are permitted subject to fulfillment of certain requirements. While Tier II account is a
voluntary investments account in which subscribers are free to deposit or
withdraw the contributions whenever he/she
wishes. An active
Tier I account
along with PRAN is a pre requisite for opening of a Tier II. Furthermore, since Tier II is
a voluntary investment account, the government does not co- contribute any amount into Tier
II account.

24

How      much      can      a               subscriber

contribute towards his Tier I account?

A subscriber contributes 10% of his Salary
+DA into his Tier-I (pension) account on a mandatory basis
every month which is invested along with the matching contribution from the employer.

On voluntary basis, subscriber may contribute
through various modes
i.e. PoPs, Nodal
Office and e-NPS.

25

How can one open
a Tier II account,

what
are the investment options and choice of PFMs available under Tier-II

?

An active Tier I
account/ PRAN is a
pre requisite for opening of a Tier
II.

Any government employee who has an active Tier I account
can approach to his associated DDO/PAO or
any POP-SP or through e-NPS (online channel) for activation of Tier II account.

Subscriber can choose one Pension Fund and decide
investment pattern (Active or Auto choice). For detailed information on investments, subscriber may visit PFRDA
website-> All Citizen
Model-> Investment Choices.

26

What is the investment-pattern for

Government employees?

Following is the investment pattern for Govt
Sector:

Particulars

Exposure Limits

Government   Securities                                                 & related investments

Upto 50%

Debt Instruments & related investments

Upto 45%

Short term
debt instruments & related investments

Upto 5%

Equity             &                          related investments

Upto 15%

Asset backed trust
structured & Miscellaneous investments

Upto 5%

Three funds
managers – SBI Pension Fund,
UTI Retirement solution, and LIC Pension Fund.

For accessing the latest guideline, the pension fund section may be visited
in PFRDA website
in Intermediaries->Pension Funds-> Circulars.

27

Is there
any timelines on upload of

SCF and remittance of funds?

The timelines are specified in OM No 1 (7) 2003 / TA / Partfile/ 279 Dt 2/9/2008 issued by Department of Expenditure, Office of CGA, Ministry of Finance; applicable
to Civil Ministries only i.e.: DDOs must submit salary bills to PAOs by 20th ,

PAO/CDDOs should upload
the subscriber contribution files( SCFs) on NPSCAN and obtain the Transaction
ID by the 25th of each month. Further, the remittance of NPS contributions
(Government’s and employees)
through RTGS/NEFT should be credited to the account of the Trustee Bank by
the PAO on the last working
day/salary day of each
month for that month.

29

How     I      can     get              Statement           of

Transactions (SoT)/check my NPS
account balances?

Subscriber s can access their SoTs at NPS
mobile app/ online login using I-PIN without intervention of concerned office. CRA-NSDL sends SoTs to
all subscribers once in a year at their registered postal addresses. Further, subscriber may also approach DDOs/Uploading offices for downloading his
SoTs

using their
official login ids at CRA
system.

30

Are there
any   tax benefits on NPS

contributions        for        the                                 central government employees?

Tax Benefits:

(i)  On
Employee’s contribution: Employee’s own contribution is eligible for tax
deduction under sec 80 CCD (1) of
Income Tax Act up to 10% of salary (Basic + DA). This is within the overall
ceiling of Rs. 1.50 Lacs under Sec. 80 CCE of the
Income Tax Act.

(ii)  On
Employer’s contribution: Up to 10%
of Basic & DA (no monetary ceiling) under 80CCD (2). This rebate is over and above
80 CCE limits of Rs
1.50 lacs.

(iii)  From
F.Y. 2015-16, subscriber is being allowed tax deduction in addition to the
deduction allowed under Sec.
80CCD(1) for contribution in his NPS account
subject to maximum of Rs.
50,000/- under Sec. 80CCD 1(B).
At present, At the time of exit, the amount utilized for purchase of annuity
is tax exempted. From 1st April,
2016, 40% of the total accumulated corpus under NPS has been made tax free.
Further, from FY2017-18 onwards, partial withdrawals will be treated as tax free.

31

How does
a subscriber register his

grievances/ complaints?

A subscriber can contact his associated
PAO/ DTO through his DDO, for resolving his/her grievance, if against the PAO/ DTO. In case grievance
pertains to other intermediaries subscriber can lodge grievance in CGMS of CRA or take help of,
DDO/PAO/DTO who will lodge the grievance on behalf of subscriber in CGMS.

Subscriber can also raise
the grievance/complaint through Call Centre
using T-PIN or through CRA website
using I-PIN. A subscriber can also send a duly filled G1 form to CRA
.Subscriber can check the status of
the grievance in CRA website at
https://cra-nsdl.com/CRA/grievanceStatusLim.do. Further, grievance may be lodged
through NPS mobile
app.

32

What to do if the grievance has not

been
resolved by the concerned entity.

Every grievance lodged shall be disposed off within a
period of thirty days of its receipt and a final reply shall be sent to the complainant, containing details of
resolution of the grievance. If the complainant is not satisfied with
the redressal of his grievances or if it has not been resolved by the intermediary within stipulated period of 30 days, he may escalate the
grievance to the National Pension System Trust which is the second level
of escalation matrix
and if remain
unresolved, may be escalated to Ombudsman.

For Complete information on the issue, please refer to
the PFRDA (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) Regulations, 2015
notified under the provisions of PFRDA
Act, 2013.