Atal Pension Yojana: Who is offering lowest charge opening, maintaining APY accounts?

Individuals are now free to set up and maintain an Atal Pension Yojana account with any of the three Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs). The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has extended the option to open an Atal Pension Yojana (APY) account with any of the three. Previously, only one CRA – Protean eGov Technologies Pvt Ltd – was responsible for opening and maintaining an APY account.

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Atal Pension Yojana (APY), a pension scheme launched by Government of India is focused on the unorganized sector workers. Under the APY, minimum guaranteed pension of Rs. 1,000/- or 2,000/- or 3,000/- or 4,000 or 5,000/- per month will start after attaining the age of 60 years depending on the contributions by the subscribers for their chosen pension amount.

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It is possible for holders of current APY accounts to change their CRA. This is so that you have the flexibility to manage your pension account whenever it’s convenient for you, as CRA portability is available to both new and current APY account holders. This means an APY subscriber can choose from CAMS, KFin and Protean eGov Technologies to open and maintain their account.

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The Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA) serves as an operational interface for all intermediaries and is in charge of the centralised recordkeeping, administration, and customer support responsibilities for all NPS & APY subscribers under the NPS architecture.

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The PFRDA circular also mentions the charges the three CRAs can levy on the APY account holder for opening and maintaining the pension account.
For PRA opening (one-time), Protean CRA will charge and KFintech and CAMs will charge Rs 15.

For PRA Maintenance (Per Annum), Protean CRA will charge Rs 20, KFintech CRA will charge Rs 14.40 and CAMS will charge Rs 16.25.

But none of the CRAs will charge for per transaction—financial or non-financial.

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One thing that an APY subscriber needs to keep in mind, as per the FAQs issued by PFRA, is that “Deductions will continue to be made to your APY account for account maintenance and other related charges on a periodic basis. One needs to maintain a balance in the bank account linked with APY.”

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APY is open to all citizens of India who fulfil the following eligibility criteria: –
The age of an individual should be between 18 and 40 years.

He / She should have a savings bank account/ post office savings bank account.

From 1st October, 2022, any Indian citizen who is or has been an income-tax payer under the Income-tax Act, 1961, as on the date of application will not be eligible to open a new APY account.

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