Relief from PFRDA: PFRDA has given a big relief to those who open their account under Atal Pension Yojana. For this, it will now be possible to open an online pension account through e-KYC only.
PFRDA Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority has announced the launch of e-KYC facility through Aadhaar (AADHAR). It is clear that now anyone who wants to open their account under Atal Pension Yojana, they will be able to complete the KYC process using their Aadhaar information and can easily open their account.
For this they will not need to go to the bank branch.
Old system
Till now, under this scheme, the member had to open this account by visiting the branches of banks, internet banking or through the service providers of Atal Pension Yojana. A new step has been taken by removing the same difficulty.
The government wants that the benefits of the scheme reach as many people as possible. Under the new step taken, the process of joining this scheme has been simplified. Now people will be able to open pension account digitally through E-KYC through Aadhaar with Central Recordkeeping Agency ie CRA.
The PFRDA circular states that if a person wants to open an account in Atal Pension Yojana, he has to verify the details online with Aadhaar based e-KYC process. New subscribers of Atal Pension Yojana will be linked through Aadhaar eKYC by Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs).
PFRDA also states that all Atal Pension Yojana accounts are to be linked with Aadhaar number, for which CRA will facilitate Aadhaar linking of existing Atal Pension Yojana subscribers through proper consent mechanism
What is the plan?
Atal Pension Yojana i.e. APY is the main social security scheme of the government. It was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 May 2015. Its objective is to provide old age income security especially to the workers in the unorganized sector.
Who can take advantage?
Any Indian citizen in the age group of 18 to 40 years can subscribe to this scheme. He must have a bank account. APY is a government scheme administered by PFRDA through NPS architecture. The minimum age to join APY is 18 years and maximum age is 40 years. Therefore, the minimum period of contribution by the subscriber under APY will be 20 years or more.
