Vinod Babu
(24191 Points)
Replied 17 September 2018
Atal Pension Yojana is a pension scheme mainly aimed at the unorganized sector such as maids, gardeners, delivery boys, etc. This scheme replaced the previous Swavalamban Yojana which wasn’t accepted well by the people.
The goal of the scheme is to ensure that no Indian citizen has to worry about any illness, accidents or diseases in old age, giving a sense of security. Private sector employees or employees working with such an organization that does not provide them pension benefit can also apply for the scheme. There is an option of getting a fixed pension of Rs 1000, Rs 2000, Rs 3000, Rs 4000, or Rs 5000 on attaining an age of 60. The pension will be determined based on the individual’s age and the contribution amount. The contributor’s spouse can claim the pension upon the contributor’s death and upon the death of both the contributor and his/her spouse, the nominee will be given the accumulated corpus. However, if the contributor dies before completing 60 years of age, the spouse is also given an option to either exit the scheme and claim the corpus or continue the scheme for the balance period. As per the investment pattern laid down by the government of India, the collected amount under the scheme is to be managed by the Pension Funds Regulatory Authority of India (“PFRDA”).
The Government would also make a co-contribution of 50% of the total contribution, or Rs. 1000 per annum, whichever is lower, to all eligible subscribers who had joined between June 2015 and December 2015 for a period of 5 years i.e., for financial years 2015-16 to 2019-20. The subscribers should not be part of any other statutory social security schemes (For eg: Employee’s provident fund), or should not be paying income taxes, in order to avail Government’s co-contribution.
Eligibility
To avail benefits from the Atal Pension Yojana, you must fulfil the below requirements:
Must be a citizen of India.
Must be between the age of 18-40
Should make contributions for a minimum of 20 years.
Must have a bank account linked with your Aadhar
Must have a valid mobile number
Those who are availing benefits of Swavalamban Yojana will be automatically migrated to Atal Pension Yojana.
CAclubindia
