PFRDA proposes changes in premature exit rules for Atal Pension Yojana
NEW DELHI: To increase acceptability of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) scheme among informal sector workers, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has proposed modifications in premature exit processing for the benefit of subscribers.
APY is a social security scheme administered by PFRDA through banks and the department of post. The scheme offers guaranteed pension benefits to eligible citizens after reaching the age of 60 years, who subscribe and contribute to the scheme.
According to a PFRDA circular issued on 3 September, “The existing mode of premature withdrawal under APY is examined from time to time by PFRDA based on the inputs/suggestions received from various stakeholders and the changes are proposed with suitable technological intervention.”
The scheme will introduce instant bank account verification in the interest of underlying subscribers for the orderly processing of their exit requests.
The following guidelines are issued for facilitating timely transfer of withdrawal amount in the bank account of APY subscribers and also as additional due diligence to protect their corpus lying in the Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN).
There could be two scenarios at the time of exit which are explained as under:
A. If the SB account details of subscribers at the time onboarding & exit are the same
1. APY subscriber should incorporate the field indicating active status of savings bank (SB) account in the revised exit file format provided by CRA which is mandatory from 15 September, 2021.
2. Instant Bank Account verification by penny drop shall also be undertaken by CRA to verify the operative status of savings account as part of enhanced due diligence.
