Atal Pension Yojana: Check APY Scheme Details, Eligibility and Benefits

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is one of the Social Security Schemes in the insurance & pension sector launched by the Govt. of India for all Indians to provide a defined pension between Rs. 1,000/- to Rs. 5,000/- depending on the contribution & its period.

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in 2015-16 budget announced its ambitious scheme - Atal Pension Yojana (APY), that is managed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) under the NPS (National Pension System).

The scheme was officially launched in June 2015 keeping in mind pension scheme for the weaker section of the society. Here is all you should know about it.

Eligibility for Atal Pension Yojana:

- APY is open to all bank account holders. The Centre would contribute 50 per cent of the total contribution or Rs 1,000 per annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber account, for a period of five years.

- Aadhaar will be the primary KYC. Aadhar and mobile number are recommended to be obtained from subscribers for the ease of operation of the scheme. If not available at the time of registration, Aadhar details may also be submitted later stage. 

Age of joining and contribution period for Atal Pension Yojana:

Any Indian resident with a minimum age of 18 and maximum age of 40 can enroll for the pension scheme. The pension will start when the individual will turn 60. Therefore the minimum period of the contribution will be 20 years or more.

Another factor which would lead to an exit from the APY scheme is death of the subscriber. It means in case of death of the subscriber pension would be available to the spouse and on the death of both of them, the pension corpus would be returned to his nominee.

Late fees by the banks

Banks are authoriesd to charged a late fees on delayed payments, such amount will vary from minimum Re 1 per month to Rs 10/- per month as shown below:

Re. 1 per month for contribution up to Rs. 100 per month.

Re. 2 per month for contribution up to Rs. 101 to 500/- per month.

Re 5 per month for contribution between Rs 501/- to 1000/- per month.

Rs 10 per month for contribution beyond Rs 1001/- per month.

The fixed amount of interest/penalty will remain as part of the pension corpus of the subscriber.

Account freeze or discontinuation:

Discontinuation of payments of contribution amount shall lead to following:

After 6 months account will be frozen.

After 12 months account will be deactivated.

After 24 months account will be closed.

Subscriber should ensure that the Bank account to be funded enough for auto debit of the contribution amount.

How do you apply for Atal Pension Yojana online?

The APY subscriber form is available online on all bank websites. Interested people need to download the form, fill in the required details and submit it to their banks. Other necessary documents also have to be submitted and applicants can then easily open an Atal Pension Yojana account.