The Government has amended the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to  give an option to the spouse to continue to contribute for the balance period on premature death of the subscriber.

After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age of 60 years of the subscriber.

An official press release said that the feedback received from various quarters had indicated that the existing provision under APY of handing over a lump sum amount to the spouse on premature death of the subscriber ws not preferred by many subscribers.

It has also highlighted the fact that there is growing demand to give an option to the spouse to continue contribution after the death of subscriber to enable him or her to draw pension when the deceased subscriber would have turned 60 years of age.

The release said the spouse of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the same pension amount as that of the subscriber until the death of the spouse. After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age of 60 years of the subscriber.

The Government had launched the APY with effect from June 1, 2015 to address the longevity risks among the workers in the organised sector and to encourage workers in unorganised sectors to voluntarily save for their retirement,.

Under APY, each subscriber, on completion of 60 years of age, will get the guaranteed minimum monthly pension, or higher monthly pension, if the investment returns are higher than the assumed returns for minimum guaranteed pension, over the period of contribution. After the subscriber’s death, the spouse of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the same pension amount as that of the subscriber until the death of the spouse.

After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age of 60 years of the subscriber. In exceptional circumstances, that is, in the event of the death of beneficiary or specified illness, as mentioned in the PFRDA (Exit and withdrawals under the National Pension System) Regulations, 2015, before the age of 60 years, the accumulated pension wealth till date would be given to the nominee or the subscriber as the case may be.

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