Atal Pension Yojana: Auto-debit facility restarts, penalty rules eased
The auto-debit facility for contributions towards Atal Pension Yojana has resumed this month. Also, no penalty if Atal Pension Yojana contributions from April 2020 to August 2020 are regularised before September 30, 2020. This was said by pension fund regulator PFRDA or Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). A subscriber can make contributions to the Atal Pension Yojana account on a monthly or quarterly or half-yearly basis through the auto-debit facility from savings bank account.
No penal interest will be charged if APY contributions from April 2020 to August 2020 are regularised before September 30, 2020
“Auto Debit for APY contributions shall resume from July 1, 2020. No penal interest will be charged if APY contributions from April 2020 to August 2020 are regularised before September 30, 2020,” PFRDA said in a tweet.
PFRDA had temporarily stopped the auto-debit facility to protect the subscribers from the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis.
Atal Pension Yojana can be subscribed by any Indian citizen in the age group of 18-40 years. The scheme provides a minimum guaranteed pension ranging from ₹1000 to ₹5000 on attaining 60 years of age. Also, the amount of pension is guaranteed for a lifetime to spouse on the death of the subscriber and lastly, in the event of the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the entire pension corpus is paid to the nominee.
The minimum period of contribution by the subscriber under Atal Pension Yojana is 20 years or more. The contribution levels would vary and would be low if the subscriber joins early and increase if he joins late.
Atal Pension Yojana this May completed its five years of implementation with over 2 crore workers under its ambit. It was launched in 2015 by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to deliver old age income security particularly to the workers in the unorganized sector and the government providing the guarantee of minimum pension after 60 years of age.
