Atal Pension Yojana Eligibility, How To Apply, Monthly Contributions Chart

Atal Pension Yojana (APY), a pension scheme for citizens of India, is focused on the unorganized sector workers. Under the APY, guaranteed minimum pension of Rs. 1,000/- or 2,000/- or 3,000/- or 4,000 or 5,000/- per month will be given at the age of 60 years depending on the contributions by the subscribers. The scheme is administered by Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) and the Institutional Architecture of NPS is utilized to enroll subscribers under APY.

Atal Pension Yojana Eligibility

Any Citizen of India can join the Atal Pension Yojana scheme.
The following are the eligibility criteria: –
(i) The age of the subscriber should be between 18 – 40 years.
(ii) He / She should have a savings bank account/ post office savings bank account.
The prospective applicant may provide Aadhaar and mobile number to the bank during registration to facilitate receipt of periodic updates on the Atal Pension Yojana account. Aadhaar needs to be provided at the time of enrolment.

How to Apply for Atal Pension Yojana?

Follow these steps to avail the benefits of APY

1. All nationalized banks provide the scheme. You can visit any of these banks to start your APY account.
2. Atal Pension Yojana forms are available online and at the bank. You can download the form from the official website.
3. The forms are available in English, Hindi, Bangla, Gujarati, Kannada, Marathi, Odia, Tamil, and Telugu.
4. Fill up the application form and submit it to your bank.
5. Provide a valid mobile number, if you haven’t already provided to the bank.
6. Submit a photocopy of your Aadhaar card.

You will be sent a confirmation message when the application is approved.

Benefits Under Atal Pension Yojana

(i) Central Government guaranteed minimum pension amount: Each subscriber under APY shall receive a Central Government guaranteed minimum pension of Rs. 1000 per month or Rs. 2000 per month or Rs. 3000 per month or Rs. 4000 per month or Rs. 5000 per month, after the age of 60 years until death.

(ii) Central Government guaranteed minimum pension amount to the spouse: After the subscriber’s demise, 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.

(iii) Return of the pension wealth to the nominee of the subscriber: After the demise of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age 60 of the subscriber

The benefit of minimum pension under Atal Pension Yojana would be guaranteed by the Government in the sense that if the actual realized returns on the pension contributions are less than the assumed returns for minimum guaranteed pension, over the period of contribution, such shortfall shall be funded by the Government. On the other hand, if the actual returns on the pension contributions are higher than the assumed returns for minimum guaranteed pension, over the period of contribution, may resulting in enhanced scheme benefits to the subscribers. The Government of India had co contributed 50% of the total contribution or Rs. 1000 per annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber, who joined the scheme during the period 1st June, 2015 to 31st March, 2016 and who is not a beneficiary of any social security scheme and is not an income tax payer. The Government co contribution will be given for 5 years from the Financial Year 2015-16 to 2019-20.

Procedure for opening APY Account

(i) Customer can approach the bank branch where individual’s savings bank account is held / or through INB if customer is having an account and availed online internet banking facility.
(ii) By Visiting CSPs (Only FI accounts holders can be enrolled at FI channel at present.)

Mode of contribution to the APY account
The contributions can be made at monthly / quarterly / half yearly intervals through auto- debit facility from savings bank account savings bank account of the subscriber.

Age of joining and contribution period

The minimum age of joining APY is 18 years and maximum age is 40 years.
The age of exit and start of pension would be 60 years. Therefore, minimum period
of contribution by the subscriber under APY would be 20 years or more.

 

Monthly Contributions

The monthly contribution depends upon the amount of pension you want to receive upon retirement and also the age at which you start contributing. The following table tells you how much you need to contribute per annum based on your age and pension plan.

What will happen if required or sufficient amount is not maintained in the savings bank account for contribution on the due date?

The subscribers should keep the required balance in their savings bank accounts on due dates to avoid any overdue interest for delayed contributions. In case , if there is inadequate balance in the saving bank account of the subscriber till the last date of the month / last date of the first month in a quarter / last day of the first month in a half year, it will be treated as a default and contribution will have to be paid in the subsequent month along with overdue interest for delayed contributions. Banks are required to collect Rs. 1 per month for contribution of every Rs. 100, or part thereof, for each delayed monthly contributions. Overdue interest for delayed contribution for quarterly / half yearly mode of
contribution shall be recovered accordingly. The overdue interest amount collected will remain as part of the pension corpus of the subscriber. More than one monthly / quarterly / half yearly contribution can be recovered subject to availability of the funds. In all cases, the contribution is to be recovered along with the overdue charges if any. This will be bank’s internal process. The due amount will be recovered as and when funds are available in the account.

 Voluntary exit before the age of 60 years

Voluntary exit in APY is permitted. In case a subscriber, who has availed Government co contribution under APY, chooses to voluntarily exit APY at a future date, he shall only be refunded the contributions made by him to APY, along with the net actual accrued income earned on his contributions (after deducting the account maintenance charges). The
Government co-contribution, and the accrued income earned on the Government co contribution, shall not be returned  o such subscribers. Even though voluntary exit is permitted, it is advisable that the subscribers continue the account till 60 years to avail guaranteed pension benefits offered by Govt of India.