- The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was launched on 09.05.2015 to provide universal social security to all Indians, especially the poor, the underprivileged, and the unorganized sector workers. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) administers APY.
- The APY is open to all bank account holders aged 18 to 40, and the contributions are determined by the amount of pension chosen.
- From the 1st October 2022 onwards, any citizen who is or has been a taxpayer, other than APY, shall not qualify for membership in this scheme,
- If a subscriber reaches the age of 60 years, he or she will receive a guaranteed minimum monthly pension of Rs. 1000 or Rs. 2000 or Rs. 3000 or Rs. 4000, or Rs. 5000.
- In addition to the monthly pension, the subscribers’ pension corpus, as accumulated at age 60, would be returned to the nominee of the subscriber after their death.
- As a result of the premature death of the subscriber (death before the subscriber attains the age of 60), the spouse of the subscriber will be able to carry on contribution to the subscriber’s APY account for the remainder of the vesting period, until the original subscriber reaches the age of 60.
- There would be a minimum pension guaranteed by the Government, i.e., if the contribution-based accumulated corpus earns a lower return on investment than expected and is insufficient for the minimum guaranteed pension, then the Central Government would fund the difference to provide the minimum guaranteed pension. It is also possible for subscribers to benefit from enhanced pensionary benefits if the returns on investments are higher than expected.
- Monthly, quarterly, and half-yearly contributions are available to APY subscribers.
- APY subscribers can voluntarily exit the program subject to certain conditions, on deduction of government contributions and interest.
