#FAQ

Atal Pension Yojana scheme is a pension based plan for an unorganised sector like personal maids, drivers, gardeners etc, was launched in June 2015 by the central government. It promises a fixed pension of 1000 INR 2000 INR 3000 INR 4000 INR or 5000 INR.

The Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is applicable between the age of 18 and 40. Basically, it allows an individual to contribute for at least 20 years and at old age, it provides pension benefits. Before anyone applies for the schemes, keep on thing in mind that you should not have any other pension scheme.

Contributions made by an individual under the Atal Pension Yojana are eligible for the deductions under section 80CCD of the Income Tax Act, 1961. … An additional contribution of Rs. 50,000 p.a. is eligible for an additional deduction of Rs. 50,000 p.a. under section 80CCD(1B) of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

No! Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is specifically for “unorganized sector” 

Your yearly Contribution + Contribution from the Government + The amount earned as interest equals to the Corpus Amount.

The contributions under Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Scheme are invested as per the investment norms definite by the Government of India.

1.Government Securities: Minimum 45% and maximum 50% of the total fund
2.Debt Securities and term deposits of banks: Minimum 35% and maximum 45% of the total fund
3.Money Market Instruments: Maximum 5% of the total fund
4.Equity and related instrument: Minimum 5% maximum 15% of the total fund
5.Asset Backed Securities etc.: Maximum 5 % of the total fund

In case you decide to open an account under the Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Scheme, the Government will co-contribute 50% of your total contribution or INR.1,000/- whichever is less, provided the account is started during the period June 01, 2015 to December 31, 2015.The Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Scheme account holder will be eligible for the Government co-contribution for next 5 year i.e. from FY 2015-16 to 2019-20. The Government co-contribution is available for those who are not covered by any Statutory Social Security Schemes and is not an Income Tax payer

Yes. Savings bank account is mandatory for opening an Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Scheme account.

No. All the contributions are to be paid monthly through auto-debit facility from savings bank account of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Scheme holder.

Yes. In such an event the bank will deduct additional amount for the delayed payment which may vary from minimum of INR 1 to INR 10/- per month as mentioned below:

1.Upto INR 100 per month ,a penalty of INR 1 per month will be charged
2.Upto INR 101 to INR 500 per month, a penalty of INR 2 per month will be charged
3.Between INR 501 to INR 1000 per month, a penalty of INR 5 per month will be charged
4.Beyond INR 1001 per month, a penalty of INR 10 per month will be charged.

Continued delay in payments of contribution amount shall lead to following:
1.Account will be frozen after 6 months
2.Account will be closed after 12 months

It is advisable to ensure that the Bank account is always funded enough for ECS of the contribution amount.

Yes. It is compulsory to provide nominee details at the time of opening the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Scheme account. The spouse details along with their aadhar details are mandatory wherever applicable.

No. Only one Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Scheme account can be opened per person.

Yes, you can choose to change the monthly contribution amount. The option to make any such changes will be available once a year in the month of April.

You can withdraw from the scheme in 4 scenarios as mentioned below:

1.The Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Scheme account holder can exit from the scheme once he/she attains the age of 60 with 100% accumulated amount of the pension wealth. On exit, pension would be available to the Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Scheme account holder.
2.The second scenario of exit is in case of death of Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Scheme account holder. In such case the pension would be paid to the spouse and on the death of Scheme account holder and spouse, the pension amount would be returned to his nominee.
3.Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Scheme account holder can exit from the scheme before the age of 60 only under exceptional situation. Exceptional situations would mean in the event of the death of beneficiary or terminal disease.
4.Any subscriber can also exit from Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Scheme provided they give up on the contribution given by the government and also the net actual interest earned on his/her contributions.

You will be updated about your Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Schemeaccount in two ways:
a. You will receive periodical SMS alerts to the register mobile number.
b. Physical Statement of the account will also be posted to the address updated at the time of opening the Atal Pension Yojana (apy) Schemeaccount.

The contributions will be settled through ECS uninterruptedly even in case of relocation or change of residential address.

After attending the age of 60, the account holder will get life long benefit.

If the Scheme holder dies before the age of 60, then the nominee will get the pension. But incase both the nominee and the Scheme holder dies then the legal heir of the nominee will get the whole contribution as lump-sum one-time payment.

The eligibility criteria are as mentioned below:

1.Must be a citizen of India.
2.Must have a valid savings bank account
3.The eligible age for this scheme is 18 to 40 years of age.

The Government will co-Contribute only if the Scheme holder is not part of any social scheme and also not a tax payer.

You can enroll for Atal Pension Yojana:

1.Approach the bank branch where you have your savings bank account
2.Fill up the APY registration form.
3.Provide Aadhaar card and your Mobile Number.
4.Ensure that you maintain the required balance in the savings bank account for transfer of monthly contribution.

1.All the registered subscribers under Swavalamban Yojana aged between 18-40 yrs will be automatically transferred to APY. However, the benefit of five years of Government Co-contribution under APY would be available only to the extent availed by the Swavalamban subscriber already. Which means that if, as a Swavalamban beneficiary, he has received the benefit of government Co-Contribution of first year, then the Government co-contribution under APY would be available only for the remaining 4 years and so on. Existing Swavalamban beneficiaries opting out from the proposed APY will be given Government co-contribution till 2016-17, if eligible, and the NPS Swavalamban continued till such people attain the age of exit under that scheme.
2.Other subscribers above 40 years who do not desire to continue may opt out of the scheme with lump sum withdrawal.
3.Subscribers above 40 years may also opt to continue till the age of 60 years and eligible for pensions.
4.The existing Swavalamban scheme may be automatically migrated to APY

Beneficiaries who are covered under statutory social security schemes are not eligible to receive Government co-contribution. For example, members of the Social Security Schemes under the following enactments would not be eligible to receive Government co-contribution:

1.Employees’ Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1952.
2.The Coal Mines Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1948.
3.Assam Tea PlantationProvident Fund and Miscellaneous Provision, 1955.
4.Seamens’ Provident Fund Act, 1966.
5.Jammu Kashmir Employees’ Provident Fund & Miscellaneous Provision Act, 1961.
6.Any other statutory social security scheme.