Atal Pension Yojana (APY): We have collected the most important points about the Atal Pension Yojana that are important for exam point of view. We have a collection of Government Schemes that are important for Competitive Exams. How much do you know about the Atal Pension Yojana? The post will be informative and be useful for future quick revision for competitive exams.
Atal Pension Yojana (APY)
Purpose: It is a pension scheme focused on all citizens in the unorganised sector. APY is a guaranteed pension scheme and is administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
Launch Date: 9th May, 2015 (Introduced from 1st June, 2015)
Eligibility (Who can invest): Age- 18 years to 40 years. Should have a bank account.
Benefits: Monthly Pension of either Rs 1000/- , Rs 2000/-, Rs 3000/-, Rs 4000/- or Rs 5000/- would be paid to the subscriber after he attains the age of 60. The monthly pension would depend on the monthly contribution that he makes. The is the guaranteed minimum monthly pension. A subscriber may get more than it, depending on the return rate.
Note: A person may join the scheme at any age between 18 – 40 years, but he will have to make the monthly contribution till the age of 60 years.
Contribution: The contribution is different for different age groups and pension coverage. The individual subscribers shall have an option to make the contribution on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly basis.The same is given below:
With the introduction of the APY, the enrolment under Swavalamban Yojana has been closed and the eligible subscribers under Swavalamban Scheme are being automatically migrated to the Atal Pension Yojana unless they opt-out.
Premature Exit: The modified provision of the scheme permits the subscriber to voluntarily exit with the condition that:
- he shall only be refunded the contributions made by him to APY, along with the net actual interest earned on his contributions (after deducting the account maintenance charges) and ;
- the Government co-contribution (if any), and the interest earned on the Government co-contribution, shall not be returned to such subscribers.
Contribution of Central Government in the Scheme: The Central Government has co-contributed 50% of the subscriber’s contribution or Rs. 1000 per annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber account, for a period of 5 years, i.e., from 2015-16 to 2019-20, who join the NPS before 31st December 2015 and who are not income tax payers.
Penalty for default in contribution: Rs. 1 per month for the contribution of every Rs. 100
Closure of APY Account in case of contribution default: Once the account balance in the subscriber’s account becomes zero due to deduction of account maintenance charges, fees and overdue interest, the account would be closed immediately.
Benefits of APY:
- Minimum guaranteed monthly pension between Rs 1000-5000 to the subscriber and to the spouse after the death of the subscriber.
- Return of corpus to the nominees after the death of both.
Points to remember:
- APY is a guaranteed pension scheme and is administered by PFRDA.
- Age Eligibility- 18 years to 40 years.
- Minimum and Maximum Pension- Rs 1000 to Rs 5000.
- Contribution can be monthly, quarterly or half-yearly basis.
- Premature exit is allowed.
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