The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has reported that, “The number of subscribers under its flagship pension schemes has increased from 24 per cent in August this year to over 4.53 crore.” The Pension Regulatory Body has made this information available on Friday. PFRDA operates two pension schemes National Pension System (NPS) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY) in the country.
Giving more details, PFRDA said that, “The number of subscribers in various schemes under National Pension System (NPS) increased to 453.41 lakh by the end of August 2021, from 365.47 lakh in August 2020. This year -Represents an increase of 24.06 per cent year-on-year in different pension schemes. According to PFRDA data, the number of subscribers under Atal Pension Yojana had increased from 33.20 per cent to 304.51 lakh as on August 31, 2021.
Asset-wise, at the end of August, the total pension assets under management stood at Rs 6,47,621 crore, registering a year-on-year growth of 32.91 per cent. Out of this, assets under APY stood at Rs 18,059 crore registering a growth of about 33 per cent over a year ago.
NPS mainly caters to the organized sector including central and state government employees, autonomous bodies, private corporations. Atal Pension Yojana (APY) targets workers in the unorganized sector, which generates the bulk of employment in the country.
PFRDA Act may also be amended soon
Soon the Union Cabinet may consider amending the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Act, 2013 and a bill in this regard may also be introduced in the upcoming session of Parliament. In this amendment, there may be a provision to separate the NPS trust from the PFRDA Act, increase the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit for the pension sector from the current 49 percent to 74 percent.
