NPS account opening rule change: eNPS for Government Sector, who can use it, process and more
Jan 5, 2024
Synopsis
eNPS facilitates the effortless opening of NPS accounts for the Government employees, empowering them to do so in a paperless, user-friendly manner, said Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in a master circular. What is eNPS, who can use it, how to use it and more.
Central Government Employees can now open National Pension System (NPS) accounts through eNPS, a digital platform. "It (eNPS) facilitates the effortless opening of NPS accounts for the Government employees, empowering them to do so in a paperless, user-friendly manner," according to the master circular recently released by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
What is eNPS? Who can open NPS accounts through eNPS?
eNPS is a digital platform that will allow Government sector employees — the employees of the Central Government, the employees of the State Government employees, the employees of Central Autonomous Bodies (CABs), the employees of the State Autonomous Bodies (SABs) to open NPS account in an easy paperless mode. The digital platform will also enable Inter Sector Shifting (ISS) of existing subscribers of other sectors to seamlessly transfer their NPS account into the Government Sector, according to the master circular dated December 29, 2023.
There are two ways to register through eNPS:
Through Aadhaar online/offline e-KYC: Under this option, the subscriber is required to use Aadhaar-based KYC.
Through Permanent Account Number (PAN): Under this option, the Subscriber is required to provide a valid PAN and upload the relevant KYC documents.
The pension body has also asked the Government Nodal Offices to use eNPS for the Government Sector for the onboarding process of their new employees.
eNPS for Government sector employees: How it will help you
How will this new eNPS process make opening NPS accounts easier and more seamless manner? The adoption of the eNPS Government Sector has multiple advantages, listed in the PFRDA.
i) Ease of on-boarding of employees and online verification/authorisation of employee’s NPS-related information by Government Nodal Offices.
ii) Easing the work of Government Nodal Offices from the manual process of account opening and freeing them from handling papers and associated challenges of dispatching the physical forms to CRA/CRA-FC.
iii) Paperless process of enrollment with eSign/OTP.
iv) Optimising the cost of account opening by end-to-end digitisation.
v) Expediting the account opening process compared to existing modes of account opening methods made available to the Government Sector.
vi) Timely PRAN generation and timely deposit of NPS contribution which would lead to higher investment benefits.
vii) Decline in rejection of registration forms due to fewer data-entry/digitisation errors as employees fill the data in the eNPS portal themselves while onboarding.
viii) Elimination of logistical costs associated with submission of physical forms by subscribers to Government Nodal Offices, by Nodal Officers to CRA-FC, and re-submission of forms.
When will it come into effect? "This Master Circular shall take effect from the date of its issuance but shall be without prejudice to their (earlier issued circulars) operation and effect, for the period when they were in force until them being subsumed under the Master Circular. Based on the above caveat, Part IV containing the list of circulars consolidated in the Master Circular shall stand rescinded with the issuance of this Master Circular, such that they are subsumed in the Master Circular and for all purpose and intent, remain operative, with no break of continuity," said the PFRDA.
[The Economic Times]
