Atal Pension Yojana subscriber base touches 80 lakh-mark

New Delhi: PFRDA-run Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has reached a subscriber base of 80 lakh, an official statement said on Friday.

"Now, the subscribers' base under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has reached more than 80 lakhs and growing at a good pace," the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA) said in a statement.

Uttar Pradesh is the highest contributing state at 11.41 lakh APY subscribers, followed by Bihar and Tamil Nadu at 8.87 lakh and 6.60 lakh respectively.

PFRDA said it has taken various initiatives for expansion of outreach and easing operations under APY such as account statement view and e-PRAN (permanent retirement account number) so that customers can easily access their accounts.

The authority said it is promoting digital initiatives for the convenience of subscribers and they can register for the scheme online as well to eliminate the need for furnishing physical documents.

APY became operational from June 1, 2015 and is available to all citizens of India in the age group of 18-40 years.

Under the scheme, a subscriber would receive a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 per month, depending on his contribution, from the age of 60 years.

APY follows the same investment pattern as applicable to the NPS contribution of central government employees.

"During the year 2016-17, it has earned a return of 13.91 per cent," PFRDA said.

PFRDA-managed NPS and APY schemes have a subscriber base of 1.91 crore (at the end of December 2017). The overall assets under management (AUM) stands over Rs 2,17,000 crore.

"PFRDA's endeavour is to significantly scale up these segments during the ongoing months," it added.