Annual Report (2020-21)

Annual Report | 2020-21 This Report is in conformity with the format of annual report prescribed in the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Reports, Returns and Statements) Rules, 2015 1Annual Report | 2020-21 3Annual Report | 2020-21 INDEX Table of Content Statement of Goals and Objectives 9 Objective 9 Vision 9 Chairman's Message 11 Members of the Board 13 Senior Management of the Authority 14 Abbreviations 15 Part - I Policies & Programmes 18 1.1 Global Economic Scenario 18 1.1.1 Inflation 18 1.1.2 Global Commodities Prices 18 1.1.3 Global Financial Environment 19 1.1.4 Bond and Equity Markets 19 1.2 Domestic Economy 19 1.2.1 Macro.Economic Developments in India 19 1.2.2 Inflation 20 1.2.3 Monetary Management 21 1.3 Financial Markets 21 1.3.1 G. Sec Market 21 1.3-2 Corporate Bond Market 22 1.3.3 Equity Market 22 1.4 Review of Global Pension Markets 22 1.4.1 Pension Fund Assets in the OECD area in 2020 22 1.4.2 Equities Investments in 2020 24 1.5 Major Announcement for Pension Secton in Budget 2021 24 1.6 Indian Demography and Old Age Income Security 25 1.7 Indian Pension Landscape 25 1.8 A Brief on the Review of the Objectives of PFRDA 28 1.9 Intermediaries under NPS 29 1.9.1 Intermediaries and Other Entities Associated with National Pension System 29 and Other Pension Schemes Covered Under the Act 1.9.2 Types of Account 31 1.9.3 Outreach 31 5Contents Part - II Investment of Funds under NPS 32 2.1 Pension Funds (PFs) 32 2.1.1 Functions of Pension Funds 32 2.1.2 List of Pension Funds (PFs) for Government Sector NPS Schemes (i.e. CG and 33 SG), NPS-Swavalamban and APY 2.1.3 List of Pension Funds (PFs) for Private Sector NPS schemes 33 2.2 Schemes 33 2.3 Regulations, Notification, issuance of major circulars / Guidelines w.r.t. 39 Pension Fund 2.4 Inspection 40 Part - III Functions of the Authority 41 3.1 Registration of Intermediaries and Suspension, Cancellation, etc 41 3.2 Approval of Schemes, the Terms and Conditions thereof 44 3.3 Exit of Subscribers From the National Pension System 44 3.3.1 PFRDA (Exits & Withdrawals Under NPS) Regulations 2015 and Amendments 44 thereof 3.3.2 Partial Withdrawal Under NPS 48 3.4 Activities Undertaken for Protection of Interests of Subscribers under the 52 National Pension System and of Other Pension Schemes under the Act 3.5 Mechanism For Redressal of Grievances of Subscribers and Activities 54 Undertaken For Redressal of Such Grievances 3.5.1 No. of Complaints received, resolved and pending for FY 2020-21 at the office 56 of Ombudsman 3.5.2 State-wise complaints received for FY 2020 – 21 at the office of Ombudsman 57 3.5.3 Initiatives taken by PFRDA 57 3.6 Certification Programme for Retirement Advisers 58 3.7 Collection of Data by the Authority and the Intermediaries Including 59 Undertaking and Commissioning of Studies, Research and Projects 3.8 Steps undertaken for Educating Subscribers and the General Public on Issues 59 Relating to Pension, Retirement Savings and Related Issued and Details of Training of Intermediaries 3.8.1 Financial Literacy regarding Pensions 59 3.8.2 Programme for Co-ordination with Financial Agencies and Other Agencies 59 3.8.3 NPS Awareness, Communication and Social Media 61 3.8.4 PFRDA on Social Media 63 3.8.5 Public Relation Agency 63 3.8.6 Training 64 6Annual Report | 2020-21 3.8.7 NPS and APY Information Helpdesk 64 3.9 Conferences /Meetings and other Initiatives undertaken during FY 2020-21 65 3.9.1 Conferences under Central and State Government Sector 65 3.9.2 Steps initiated for smooth implementation of NPS in Government Sector 67 3.9.3 Conferences under Corporate Sector 69 3.9.4 Conferences / Programmes / Meetings under Atal Pension Yojana 70 3.10 Performance of Pension Funds 70 3.11 Regulated Assets 73 3.12 Fees and Other Charges Levied or Collected by the Authority During the 73 Financial Year 3.13 Information Sought for, Inspections Undertaken, Inquiries Conducted and 74 Investigations Undertaken Including Audit of Intermediaries and Other Entities or Organisations Connected with Pension Funds 3.13.1 Inquiries & Investigations 74 3.13.2 Inspection & Audits 74 3.14 Others 76 3.14.1 Subscribers (Category Wise) Covered Under the National Pension System and 76 Other Pension Schemes Under the Act 3.14.2 Points of presence 79 3.14.3 Asset under Management Scheme wise 79 3.14.4 The Central Recordkeeping Agency 79 3.14.5 Pension Funds 86 3.14.6 The Trustee Bank 87 3.14.7 The Custodian under the National Pension System 92 3.14.8 The National Pension System Trust 93 3.14.9 Retirement Advisor 95 3.14.10 Other Functions Carried Out by the Authority in the Area of Pensions. 95 PART - IV 4.1 Pension Advisory Committee 97 4.2 Regulations Made or Amended 97 4.3 Constitution of Committee for Utilization of Subscriber Education and 98 Protection Fund 4.4 Standing Committee on Information Technology and Cyber Security in PFRDA 98 PART - V Organizational Matters of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority 99 5.1 Constitution of PFRDA Board 99 5.2 Meetings of the Authority 99 7Contents 5.3 Staff Strength in PFRDA 99 5.4 Functioning of SC/ST Cell and OBC Cell in PFRDA 99 5.5 Committee for Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace 100 5.6 Staff Welfare Committee 100 5.7 Training of employees in PFRDA 100 5.8 Promotion of Official Language 100 5.9 Right to Information 102 5.10 Parliamentary Questions 102 5.11 Others 102 5.12 Accounts of PFRDA 102 PART - VI Any Critical Area Adversely Affecting the Interest of Subscribers 104 Some of The Area Affecting the Interest of the Subscribers 6.1 Absence of an enabling regulation precludes the Govt. nodal officer 104 6.2 Age Limit of 40 Years for Joining APY 104 6.3 Statutory Obligations that the Authority has not complied 104 6.3.1 Minimum Assured Returns Scheme (MARS) 104 6.4 Taxation on employer contribution beyond 10% of salary 104 6.5 Cap on employer contribution for calculating taxable perquisite 105 6.6 Tier-II Tax Saver with tax benefit of 80C restricted for Central Govt. employees 105 6.7 Taxation on gains arises on Tier-II investment 105 PART - VII Any other measure taken by the Authority to protect the interest of subscribers to the 106 National Pension System and other Pension Schemes under the Act 7.1 Other Initiatives taken by the Authority to Protect the Interest of the subscribers 106 List of Annexure 107 Annexure I Composition of Pension Advisory Committee 108 Annexure II State wise total no. of POP-SPs 109 Annexure III Annual Accounts and Schedules 110 8Annual Report | 2020-21 STATEMENT OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Under rule 9(2) (C) of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Reports, Returns and Statements) Rules, 2015 OBJECTIVE The broad objectives of the PFRDA are contained in the Preamble to the PFRDA Act 2013 as under: “To provide for the establishment of an Authority to promote old age income security by establishing, developing and regulating pension funds, to protect the interest of subscribers to schemes of pension funds and matters connected therewith and incidental thereto.” VISION To be a model Regulator for promotion and development of an organized pension system to serve the old age income needs of people on a sustainable basis. 9Annual Report | 2020-21 Chairman’s Message The global financial system is overcoming the shock waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic and social disruption caused by the pandemic is distressing, the loss is unprecedented, this incidence has taught many lessons. The collaborated efforts of Governments, central banks and financial regulators have helped to mitigate the impact of the pandemic. The timely policy responses have limited the severity of the impact and it is supporting the economy to overcome the shock. While the global economy had contracted in 2020, it is on a recovery path in 2021. Advanced economies have fared better; recovery remains uneven amongst Emerging Market and Developing Economies (EMDEs). This pandemic had tested financial & health system of the countries and given a lesson on preparedness and scope of betterment. As per WEO report, Global economy is projected to expand by 6 per cent in 2021, moderating to 4.9 per cent in 2022. As per NSO estimates, the growth in GDP during 2020-21 is estimated at -8.0 per cent as compared to 4.0 per cent in 2019-20. Further RBI has projection for real GDP growth at 9.5 per cent in 2021-22. As regards pandemic, the country now is well-equipped with adequate testing, supported by the largest vaccination programmes and several monetary policy measures initiatives by the central bank well supported by fiscal stimulus. PFRDA has taken several proactive steps to support its NPS and APY subscribers during this pandemic: be it monetary (permitting to treatment of Covid-19 as one of the purposes for partial withdrawal under NPS and stoppage of auto-debit of APY contributions) or operational ease. Notwithstanding the headwind from COVID-19 and its negative impact on GDP and consequent volatility in stock market, NPS being regulated and prudentially managed has been able to absorb the shock to a large extent. Going by current indications, we anticipate that the economy will recover at a faster pace in the coming months putting the worst behind us. Despite the pandemic, as on 31st March, 2021, a total 424.40 lakh subscribers have been enrolled under NPS (including APY) registering a year-on-year growth of 22.8 per cent, whereas Assets Under Management (AUM) have grown to Rs. 5,78,025 crore, thereby recording year-on-year growth of 38.5 per cent. 11Chairman Message Pension being a long-term financial product, requires sustained contribution towards one's corpus in the accumulation phase during the working age of an individual. Therefore, it is recommended to start contributing early for pension. The earlier we start accumulating for pension, the more compounding benefit we reap at maturity. In this context, the task of financial literacy - in matters related to pension, retirement planning/savings along with the overarching mandate of developing the pension sector through various digital/social media and a dedicated website - becomes critical. It is my pleasure to share this Annual Report of the PFRDA for financial year 2020-21. The Report endeavors to provide major activities and initiatives of the Authority. I am sure this Report will enhance understanding about the functionalities of the pension system in India. We welcome feedback on the Report. Finally, I wish to reiterate the commitment and dedication of PFRDA to the overarching cause of making India a Pensioned Society to fulfill its objective of old age income security. Supratim Bandyopadhyay Chairman 12Annual Report | 2020-21 Members of the Board (Appointed under Section 4 of the PFRDA Act, 2013 (Act 23 of 2013)) (i) Chairperson Shri Supratim Bandyopadhyay, Chairman, PFRDA from February 21, 2020 till date. (ii) Whole-Time Members 1. Shri Pramod Kumar Singh, Whole Time Member (Law) from March 03, 2020 till date. 2. Dr. Deepak Mohanty, Whole Time Member (Economics) from September 01, 2020 till date. 3. Prof. (Dr.) Manoj Anand, Whole Time Member (Finance) from October 01, 2020 till date. (iii) Part-Time Members 1. Ms. Annie George Mathew (IA & AS 1988), Additional Secretary (Pers), Department of Expenditure from December 12, 2014 till date. 2. Ms. Sujata Chaturvedi (IAS 1989), Additional Secretary (in-charge of Establishment Division), Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) from January 16, 2020 till date. 3. Shri Madnesh Kumar Mishra (IRS 1990), Joint Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance from November 03, 2017 till date. 13Senior Management of the Authority SENIOR MANAGEMENT OF THE AUTHORITY (As on March 31, 2021) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Shri Ananta Gopal Das CHIEF GENERAL MANAGER Ms. Mamta Rohit Ms. Sumeet Kaur Kapoor Shri Venkateswarlu Peri (On deputation in other Organization) Shri Ashish Kumar GENERAL MANAGER Shri K. Mohan Gandhi Shri Pravesh Kumar Shri Mono Mohon Gogoi Phukon Shri Akhilesh Kumar (Deployed in NPS Trust) Shri Vikas Kumar Singh Shri Sumit Kumar Shri P. Arumugarangarajan Chief Vigilance Officer Shri D.K. Namdeo Ombudsman Shri Arnab Roy ANNUAL REPORT TEAM Shri Ashish Kumar, Chief General Manager Smt. Manju Bhalla, Deputy General Manager Shri Manish Mani, Manager 14Annual Report | 2020-21 Abbreviations AIF Alternative Investment Fund APY Atal Pension Yojana APY-SP APY-Service Provider ASP Annuity Service Provider AUM Assets under Management BSE Bombay Stock Exchange CAB Central Autonomous Bodies CAGR Compounded Annual Growth Rate CBO Corporate Branch Office CCI Completion Commission of India CEO Chief Executive Officer CG Central Government CGMS Central Grievance Management System CHO Corporate Head Office CISO Chief Information and Security Officer COR Certificate of Registration CPI Consumer Price Index CPIO Central Public Information Officer CRA Central Recordkeeping Agency CSGL Constituent Subsidiary General Ledger DB Defined Benefit DDO Drawing and Disbursing Office DCCB District Central Co-operative Bank DFS Department of Financial Services DTA Directorate of Treasuries and Accounts DTO District Treasury Office EMDE Emerging Market and Developing Economies EPF Employee Provident Fund EPFO Employees' Provident Fund Organisation EPS Employees' Pension Scheme ERM Error Rectification Module FAQ Frequently asked Question Fin-Tech Financial Technology 15Abbreviations FRPS Fonds de Retraite Professionelle Supplémentaire” FSDC Financial Stability and Development Council FY Financial Year GDP Gross Domestic Product G-Sec Government security IFSC Indian Financial System Code IFSCA International Financial Services Centres Authority IMF International Monetary Fund IOS iPhone Operating System ISTM Institute of Secretariat Training and Management IPIN Internet Personal Identification Number TPIN Telephonic Personal Identification number IRDAI Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India IRF-FC Inter Regulatory Forum for monitoring Financial Conglomerates KYC Know Your Customer MFI Micro Finance Institution MIS Management Information System Mobile app Mobile Application MPC Monetary Policy Committee NAHRD National Academy of Human Resource Development NAV Net Asset Value NBFC Non-Banking Financial Company NCFE National Centre for Financial Education NISM National Institute of Securities Market NLAO NPS Lite Account office NPC National Productivity Council NPCI National Payments Corporation of India NPS National Pension System NPSCAN NPS Contribution Accounting Network NPST National Pension System Trust NSDL National Securities Depository Limited NSE National Stock Exchange OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development OPGM Online PRAN Generation Module OTP One Time Password 16Annual Report | 2020-21 PAC Pension Advisory Committee PAN Permanent Account Number PAO Pay and Accounts Office PrAO Principal Accounting Office PF Pension Fund PFM Pension Fund Manager PoP Point of Presence PoP-SE Point of Presence-Sub Entity PoP-SP Point of Presence-Service Provider PRAN Permanent Retirement Account Number QR code Quick Response code RA Retirement Advisor RBI Reserve Bank of India ReBIT Reserve Bank Information Technology Private Limited RRB Regional Rural Bank RTI Right to Information SCF Subscriber Contribution File SEBI Securities and Exchange Board of India SG State Government SHCIL Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd SOT Statement of Transactions STS Server to Server TB Trustee Bank TGFIFL Technical Group on Financial Inclusion and Financial Literacy UOS Unorganised Sector WEO World Economic Outlook WPI Wholesale Price Index WTM Whole Time Member 17Part I Part I Policies and Programmes the European countries such as France, Germany, The introduction of the NPS in India marked a Italy, and Spain projected to later in 2021, carrying paradigm shift from defined benefit to defined over into 2022. contribution system. The Preamble to PFRDA Act, 2013 sets out the objective of providing old age Emerging market and developing economies income security in India. The National Pension (EMDEs) – As per WEO report, the projections for System (NPS) system is designed with a view 2021 have been revised down by 0.4 percentage for to have a systemic approach towards designing emerging Asian economies. Growth prospects in and implementing a coherent and financially India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, sustainable pension system. Vietnam have been downgraded due to several infection waves during March-May 2021. Growth Pension sector is impacted by the global and forecast in China has been revised down by 0.3 domestic developments. At the same time, percentage due to minimize public investment pension assets impact the economy in different and fiscal support. Growth forecast has been ways by channelising resources to capital market revised up in Latin America and the Caribbean as and infrastructure. The global and domestic it reflects favourable market condition in Mexico developments are reflected in economic growth, and booming terms of trade in Brazil. For sub- inflation, commodity prices, as well as monetary Saharan Africa, growth is expected to rebound and fiscal policy responses which in turn impact to 3.4 per cent in 2021, though significantly lower all segments of financial market, be it equity than the trend anticipated before the pandemic. market, government securities market or bond market. This part of the report briefly reviews the global and domestic economy before delving 1.1.1 Inflation into the developments in the global and domestic According to WEO, inflation is expected to return pension markets. to its pre-pandemic ranges in most countries in 2022 once these disturbances work their way 1.1 Global Economic Scenario through prices, though uncertainty remains high. High inflation is also expected in some emerging The world economy experienced a steady recovery market and developing economies, related in part in 2021. As per July 2021, World Economic Outlook to high food prices. (WEO) report, Global economy is projected to expand by 6 per cent in 2021, moderating to 4.9 per Central banks should generally look through cent in 2022. It reflects fiscal support in the United transitory inflation pressures and avoid tightening States and new measures in other advanced until there is more clarity on underlying price economies including France, Germany, Italy, dynamics. Clear communication from central Korea, and the United Kingdom. Many emerging banks on the outlook for monetary policy will market and developing economies including be key to shaping inflation expectations and Brazil, Hungary, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey are safeguarding against premature tightening of looking to rebuild fiscal and monetary policy. financial conditions. However, there is a risk that transitory pressures could become more persistent In advanced economies, growth prospects have and central banks may need to take pre-emptive been revised up for 2021-22. US economy is action. projected to grow by 0.3 percentage in 2021 and 1.1 percentage in 2022 due to better infrastructure investment and strengthening the social safety net 1.1.2 Global Commodities Prices in the second half of 2021 whereas Japan economy A per WEO, a rise in commodities prices has been is projected to recover in the second half of 2021. In expected, particularly for oil. Consistent with the 18Annual Report | 2020-21 projected global recovery, oil prices are projected since the summer of 2020 reflecting expectations of to increase by 60 per cent in 2021 above their low increased supply of Treasury securities to finance base in 2020 and non-oil commodity prices are the fiscal expansion. projected to increase by 30 per cent above 2020 Higher long-end yields in the United States have levels, reflecting strong increases in the price of also put some upward pressure on comparable- metals and food. maturity yields in other advanced economies, including in countries where the recovery still 1.1.3 Global Financial Environment appears to be lagging. Average advanced economy As per Global Financial Stability Report (GFSR) 10-year rates have increased 50 basis points so far April 2021, with massive policy support, the in 2021. The recent increase in market volatility and global financial system has been resilient rise in medium- and long-term yields in advanced during the COVID-19 pandemic and financial economies have rattled emerging market bond conditions have eased significantly. This has markets and currencies and caused some portfolio helped maintain the flow of credit to households outflows. and firms, facilitated the recovery, and mitigated financial risks. The improved economic outlook Currencies of emerging market economies have has reduced the range of adverse outcomes, but gained against the dollar but have faced some downside risks to future GDP growth remain. turbulence in early 2021 on the back of rising interest rates in the United States. External credit Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, global spreads have been relatively insulated from the financial stability risks are still contained, reflecting recent volatility in markets. bold and timely policy actions. The combination of progress in health care solutions and continued 1.2 Domestic Economy unprecedented policy accommodation has been remarkably successful in preventing an even 1.2.1 Macro-Economic Developments in India more devastating blow to the global economy The Indian economy was negatively impacted by and has boosted hope for a forthcoming recovery. health crisis in 2020-21 with the highly contagious The magnitude of the output loss, although corona virus (Covid - 19) spreading across the unprecedented in modern times, has had only a country. Covid-19 inflicted an adverse shock to the limited impact on the financial sector. While the economy in 2020-21. In response to the pandemic, pandemic has weighed heavily on some sectors Government has taken several proactive and of the economy and unmasked some underlying mitigating measures including nation-wide vulnerabilities, the global financial system has stringent lockdown. shown remarkable resilience so far. India is expected to emerge as the fastest growing 1.1.4 Bond and Equity Markets. major economy in the world as the economy As per GFSR, equity markets have rallied recovers from Covid-19 shock backed by its aggressively since the third quarter of 2020 on robust democracy and strong partnerships. With expectations of a rapid economic recovery and an improvement in the economic scenario, there continued policy backstops, and they are now have been investments across various sectors trading at levels meaningfully higher than those of the economy. Numerous foreign companies suggested by models based on fundamentals. are setting up their facilities in India on account While earnings expectations have improved, of various Government initiatives like Make in historically low real risk-free rates (despite most India and Digital India. Make in India initiative recent increases) have provided material support aims to boost country’s manufacturing sector and so far to valuations. In the corporate bond market, increase purchasing power of an average Indian spreads have remained very tight. consumer, which would further drive demand and spur development, thus benefiting investors. As per GFSR, long-term interest rates in the On the other hand, Digital India initiative focuses United States have risen about 125 basis points on three core components: creation of digital 19Part I infrastructure, delivering services digitally and to due to a series of cost-push shocks – supply chain increase the digital literacy. disruptions; weather shocks; higher crude oil and other commodity prices; and higher taxes. Core As per RBI (reference MPC Report, April 2021), inflation remained sticky at elevated levels. according to the second advance estimates for 2020-21 released by the National Statistical The average CPI inflation in FY 2020-21 recorded Office (NSO), India’s real gross domestic product an uptick to 6.2 per cent from 4.8 per cent in FY (GDP) contraction at 8.0 per cent during 2020-21. 2019-20. Overall CPI-C inflation in March 2021 High frequency indicators such as vehicle sales; has increased to 5.52 per cent mainly on account railway freight traffic; toll collections; goods of increase in food inflation. Following an uptick and services tax (GST) revenues; e-way bills; in commodity prices, rising demand and firming and steel consumption – suggest that gains in up of pricing power, the core-CPI inflation (CPI manufacturing and services activity in Q3:2020- excluding food and beverages, and fuel and light) 21 extended into Q4 and Purchasing managers’ hardened further to a 29-month high of 6.0 per index (PMI) manufacturing at 55.4 in March cent in March 2021. The average WPI inflation 2021 remained in expansion zone. The resilience eased to 1.2 per cent in FY 2020-21 from 1.7 per of agriculture is evident from food-grains and cent in FY 2019-20. During the month of March horticulture production in 2020-21, which are 2021, WPI inflation increased to a 103-month high expected to be 2.0 per cent and 1.8 per cent higher of 7.39 per cent on account of increase in inflation respectively than the final estimates of 2019-20. of all major groups, viz, Primary articles, Fuel & Further, the projection of real GDP growth for power and Manufactured products. 2021-22 is retained at 10.5 per cent consisting of The forecast of a normal south-west monsoon and 26.2 per cent in Q1, 8.3 per cent in Q2, 5.4 per cent the slight softening of the pressure on oil prices in Q3 and 6.2 per cent in Q4. may soften food and fuel inflationary pressures respectively. The outlook for core inflation is likely 1.2.2 Inflation to be impacted depending on the disruptions in According to RBI MPC Report, April 2021, in supply chains due to localised restrictions across 2020-21, inflation breached the upper tolerance States. band of 6 per cent for six consecutive months in the post-lockdown period (June-November 2020) (Source: DEA Monthly Economic Review April 2021) Chart 1.1: Inflation rate CPI & WPI Source: PIB and MoSPI 20Annual Report | 2020-21 1.2.3 Monetary Management The policy repo rates per cent kept unchanged in the Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Bi-monthly In the First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement Monetary Policy Statements. In addition, the RBI for 2020-21, the MPC reduced policy repo rate to continued with the accommodative stance as long 4.40 per cent from 5.15, followed by another 40 as it is necessary to revive growth, while ensuring basis points (bps) reduction to 4.0 per cent in the that inflation remains within the target. Second Bi-Monthly Policy. Chart 1.2: Movement in the repo rate during FY 2019-20 and FY 2020-21 is presented below: Source: MPC Report RBI 1.3 Financial Markets 1.3.1 G-Sec Market India has a diversified financial sector undergoing As per monetary policy report of RBI April 2021, rapid expansion, both in terms of growth of During H2: 2020-21, the 10-year G-sec yield firmed financial services and new entities. The sector up by 30 bps, although it remained at decadal low comprises commercial banks, non-banking levels. During Q3:2020-21, the yield softened by 15 financial companies, co-operatives, insurance bps from 6.04 per cent to 5.89 per cent, aided by companies, pension funds, mutual funds and policy measures. The benchmark 10-year yield, other smaller financial entities. The year 2020-21 which traded at 5.93 per cent (on an average) has been an exceptional year because of Covid-19. during April 2020-January 2021, spiked to 6.25 per cent on March 10, 2021 before coming down again. Chart 1.3: 10 Year G-Sec Bond Yield (Per cent) Source: RBI report. 21Part I 1.3.2 Corporate Bond Market 1.3.3 Equity Market As per monetary policy report of RBI April The Indian equity market remained upbeat in 2021, during H2:2020-21, corporate bond yields October 2020 following the phased unlocking of remained almost unchanged. Yields on AAA- the economy. Domestic equities scaled all-time rated 3-year bonds issued by NBFCs softened highs in H2:2020-21 on positive global cues, record by 1 basis point to 5.54 per cent, while those on FPI inflows, revival in economic activity, robust corporates and public-sector undertakings (PSUs), corporate earnings and roll-out of COVID-19 financial institutions (FIs) and banks hardened vaccine. by 5 bps and 11 bps to 5.40 per cent and 5.20 per The equity market resumed its upward trajectory cent, respectively, at end-March 2021. The risk in early March 2021 following robust GST premium or spread on AAA rated 3-year bonds collections, positive GDP data for Q3:2020-21 and (over 3-year G-sec) moderated from 63 bps to 36 improvement in manufacturing and services PMI bps for NBFCs, 43 bps to 22 bps for corporates and for February 2021. 17 bps to 2 bps for PSUs. Chart 1.4: Sensex and Nifty movement Source: BSE website The performance of the bench mark index of BSE 9 per cent in the OCED area and reached at during FY 2020-21 remained on the recovery path USD34.2 trillion at end 2020. Outside the OCED and closed at 49509.15 point on 31 March, 2021, area, pension fund assets amounted to USD 0.8 while Nifty 50, closed at 14690.70 on 31 March, trillion at end 2020 in a group of 31 jurisdictions, 2021. over 1 per cent more than at end 2019. The amount of assets in pension funds was 1.4 Review of Global Pension Markets continued to increase in almost all countries. This increase was supported by capital gains in 1.4.1 Pension fund Assets in the OECD Area in financial markets and government measures that 2020 helped members to continue participating in their As per OECD report, pension fund assets pension plans. Some of the strongest asset rises in exceeded USD 35 trillion worldwide at end nominal terms occurred in Georgia (over 100 per 2020, exceeding 2019 levels despite COVID-19 in cent) where participation in a 2nd pillar pension almost all countries except those facing significant scheme has become mandatory since January withdrawals. Pension fund assets grew by nearly 2019, and France (84 per cent) where insurance 22Annual Report | 2020-21 companies have started creating and transferring smaller in countries such as Albania, Greece and pension business to FRPS (i.e. a newly authorised France, accounting for 0.2 per cent, 1 per cent and vehicle that is a pension fund). 2.6 per cent of GDP respectively. The amount of assets in pension funds varies Pension funds in most of reporting jurisdictions by country, with 7 countries in the OECD area achieved a positive investment returns despite responsible for more than 90 per cent of pension the sharp fall in stock prices in Q1 2020 in major fund assets: the United States (USD 20.1 trillion), financial markets, the rise in unemployment and the United Kingdom (USD 3.2 trillion), the the shrinkage of GDP. Pension funds in Hong Netherlands (USD 2.1 trillion), Australia (USD 1.8 Kong (China) and Mexico experienced the highest trillion), Canada (USD 1.6 trillion), Japan (USD 1.5 investment performance in 2020, at 12.4 per cent trillion) and Switzerland (USD 1.2 trillion). and 9.3 per cent respectively. Pension funds also recorded a real investment rate Assets in pension funds exceeded the size of of return over 5 per cent in 17 other jurisdictions, the domestic economy in five countries: the including Denmark (7.5 per cent), the Netherlands Netherlands (210.3 per cent), Iceland (194.3 per (6.5 per cent) and the United States (5.9 per cent). cent), Switzerland (149.1 per cent), Australia (128.7 The investment performance of pension funds was per cent) and the United Kingdom (118.5 per cent). lower, but still positive, in 23 other jurisdictions. In contrast, pension fund assets remained much Chart 1.5: Assets in Pension funds (in per cent) of GDP in 2020 A. OECD countries (in per cent) B. Selected other jurisdictions (in per cent) Source: OECD report. 23Part I Pension funds achieved a positive nominal return in 1.4.2 Equities Investments in 2020 Colombia (0 per cent), the Czech Republic (1.1 per As per the OECD report, pension funds were cent), Serbia (1.1 per cent) and Suriname (10.8 per mostly invested in equities and bonds at the cent) but below inflation (1.6 per cent in Colombia, end of 2020 and together they accounted for 74 2.3 per cent in the Czech Republic, 1.3 per cent in per cent of the investment of pension funds on Serbia and over 50 per cent in Suriname). average, directly or indirectly through collective Chart 1.6: Real investment rates of return of pension funds, Dec 2019-Dec 2020 (preliminary) (In per cent) Source: OECD report. investment schemes, among the 68 reporting in 2020, pension funds in the Czech Republic jurisdictions. Bonds alone represented 50 per cent diverted over 8 per cent points of their assets of pension fund investments on average. in cash towards bonds (especially government bonds). In Croatia, an increase in pension funds’ Equities accounted for more than 50 per cent of investments in riskier assets such as equities as a the investments of pension funds in Hong Kong result of the low interest rate environment. (China), Lithuania, Malawi, Namibia and Poland, while pension funds invested almost none of their 1.5 Major Announcement for Pension Sector assets in equities in Armenia, the Czech Republic in Budget 2021 or Georgia for instance. The announcement was made in the budget Low and declining interest rates also led some 2021 relating to Pension Sector: pension funds to adjust their asset allocation 24Annual Report | 2020-21 Relaxation in conditions for exemption to 1.7 Indian Pension Landscape Sovereign Wealth Fund & Pension Fund (SWF/ The landscape of Indian pension system includes PF). non-contributory social pension schemes financed by the Government to provide minimum level In order to incentivise more SWFs/PFs to invest of protection like National Social Assistance in Indian Infrastructure, it is proposed to relax Programme (NSAP), mandatory defined benefit some of conditions for availing 100 per cent tax pension scheme on pay-as-you-go basis like Civil exemption introduced in the last budget. The Service Pension for employees who joined service conditions which are proposed to be relaxed before 2004, Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) include prohibition on loans or borrowings, and Employees’ Pension Scheme(EPS) under the restriction on commercial activities, direct EPFO, other statutory provident funds like Coal investment in entity owning infrastructure, etc. Mines, Seamen’s and Assam Tea Plantations schemes; the National Pension System (NPS) 1.6 Indian Demography and Old Age Income for the Central government employees joining Security on or after January 1, 2004 on mandatory basis, Due to rising and unsustainable pension liabilities, employees of those state governments who have in keeping with the global practices and after deep joined NPS, NPS for all citizens on voluntary deliberations on the issue, Government made a basis covering both employees and self-employed conscious move to shift from the defined benefit including those in the unorganised sector, Public pension scheme to the defined contribution pension Provident Fund, retirement and superannuation scheme. The New Pension Scheme, now renamed plans offered by insurance companies and mutual as National Pension System (NPS) was introduced funds. by the Government through a notification No. The fiscal stress of the defined benefit pension 5/7/2003-ECB & PR dated December 22, 2003 and system was the major factor driving pension it was made mandatory for Central Government reforms for Government employees and employees (except armed forces) who join service introduction of NPS for Government employees. w.e.f. January 1, 2004. Owing to the financial and practical difficulties The NPS, which was introduced initially for the of extending coverage to the unorganised sector Central government subscribers, has now been through the mandatory scheme like EPF (specially adopted by all the state governments except for organized sector workers), voluntary West Bengal, and most of the Central and State retirement savings are seen as an important policy autonomous bodies. NPS has also been extended tool to extend the coverage of pension provision in to the private and unorganized sector on voluntary India. The important policy measure to achieve a basis from May 2009. higher coverage of the unorganised sector workers under the pension system is the extension of the Government of India vide notification dated NPS, which is financially self-sufficient, low cost January 31, 2019 has notified the increase in its and efficient system. contribution to central government employees To encourage people from the unorganised sector NPS accounts from 10 per cent to 14 per cent with to voluntarily save for their old age, Government effect from April 1, 2019.As per the notification, had launched the co contribution scheme – NPS “The monthly contribution would be 10 per cent of Lite/Swavlamban scheme in September, 2010, the Basic Pay plus Dearness Allowance (DA) to be Subsequently, Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was paid by the employee and 14 per cent of the Basic launched on May 9, 2015 by the Prime Minister Pay plus DA by the Central Government”. Greater and the Scheme is being implemented with effect freedom in choosing pension funds and pattern of from June 1, 2015 with the focus on unorganized investment to central government employees has sector. The Subscribers under APY shall get a also been notified along with compensation for Government guaranteed pension of Rs. 1000, Rs. non/delayed deposit of NPS contribution. 2000, Rs. 3000, Rs. 4000 or Rs. 5000 depending upon 25Part I the contribution level opted by them. The number with year-on-year growth of 32.67 per cent. of subscribers and Assets under Management As on end of March, 2021, 414 banks are registered under NPS are given in table below: as APY – Service Providers which include Public As on March 31, 2021, a total of 424.40 lakh Sector Banks, Private Banks, Foreign Banks, subscribers have been enrolled under the NPS and Regional Rural Banks, District Commercial Banks, APY and recorded a year-on-year growth of 22.82 Schedule Commercial Banks, Urban Commercial per cent. APY, a defined benefit pension scheme Banks, Payment Banks, Small Finance Bank and had 280.49 lakh subscribers as on March 31, 2021 Department of Post. Table no 1.1: Number of Subscribers under NPS/APY (As on March 31, 2021) Sector No. of subscribers No. of subscribers Growth Share (In Lakh) (In Lakh) (In per cent) (In per (as on March 31,2020) (as on March 31, 2021) (Y-o-Y) cent) Central Government 21.02 21.76 3.51 5 State Government 47.54 51.41 8.13 12 Corporate 9.73 11.25 15.64 3 All Citizen 12.52 16.47 31.53 4 NPS Lite 43.32 43.02 - 10 APY 211.42 280.49 32.67 66 Grand Total 345.55 424.40 22.82 100 • The number of Service Providers for APY with SABs which have adopted NPS are to has increased from 403 at end of March 2020 be mandatorily covered under NPS. This to 414 at end of March 2021 with an increase year 27 new CABs and 141 SABs have been of 2.73 per cent. brought under NPS taking total no. of CABs • All employees of Central Government along and SABs to 630 and 1459, respectively. with CABs and State Governments along • Corporate sector offers NPS to their employees on mandatory or voluntary Table 1.2: Assets under Management under NPS/APY (As on March 31, 2021) Sector AUM AUM AUM AUM (Rs. crore) (Rs. crore) Growth Share (as on March 31, 2020) (as on March 31, 2021) (In per cent) (In per (Y-o-Y) cent) Central Government 1,38,046 1,81,788 31.69 31 State Government 2,11,023 2,91,381 38.08 50 Corporate 41,231 62,609 51.80 11 All Citizen 12,924 22,206 71.96 4 NPS Lite 3,729 4,354 16.80 1 APY 10,526 15,687 49.03 3 Grand Total 4,17,479 5,78,025 38.46 100 26Annual Report | 2020-21 Table 1.3: Performance Highlights of National Pension System/ Atal Pension Yojana during FY 2020-21 (In numbers) Measures At the end of FY 2019-20 At the end of FY 2020-21 Growth (In per cent) Government Subscribers 68,55,842 73,16,350 6.72 All Citizen + Corporate 22,25,134 27,71,936 24.57 Subscribers APY Subscribers 2,11,42,262 2,80,49,151 32.67 No. of POP-SPs# 2,41,703 2,47,254 2.30 No. of APY-SPs 403 414 2.73 No. of CABs 603 630 4.48 No. of SABs 1,318 1,459 10.70 No. of Corporate 7,571 8,599 13.58 No. of officials trained * 86,835 12,024 - (FY wise) *Incremental conducted by Hero Mind-mine Institute Private Ltd. # Data considered state-wise highest number of POP-SPs of NSDL and K-fintech CRAs. Other represented figures are registered with CRAs. available for the existing subscribers. e-NPS basis. At the end of March 2021, as per CRAs facilitates opening of Individual Pension Account reports total 8599 Corporate are registered under NPS and making initial and subsequent under NPS against 7571 Corporate at the contribution to the Tier I as well as Tier II account end of March 2020 with an increase of 13.58 online. This feature also enables the subscribers to per cent. change their Pension Funds, asset class, allocation Government support to these schemes in the form ratio, and scheme options after authentication. NPS of tax benefits and guarantee for APY increases the subscribers can initiate withdrawal request from appeal of these schemes. However, considering Tier II account by using their login credentials and the vast uncovered population of the country a OTP authentication on registered mobile number. lot more needs to be done. The major challenge in extending the NPS to all citizens is increasing the Online PRAN generation module (OPGM) is awareness and financial literacy among potential offered to stakeholders for on boarding of NPS subscribers. PFRDA has been taking several subscribers to enable instant PRAN generation steps to increase the awareness through different with minimal documentation. However, mass media and capacity building programmes. such accounts are deemed to be irregular till Further, to ensure dissemination of NPS complete documentation is verified and record awareness, PFRDA has aggressively undertaken with the Central Record Keeping Agencies promotional and developmental activities by (CRAs). Intermediaries registered with PFRDA engaging dedicated agency for imparting training are permitted to use Video based Customer and capacity building for officials of Service Identification Process (VCIP) for the purpose of Providers. on-boarding, exit or any other service request related to NPS. To improve ease of access to NPS for the potential subscribers and service providers, PFRDA has NPS subscribers are provided with various been further enhancing the technology across convenient options to deposit their voluntary the value chain whether it is e-NPS, Mobile contributions through the associated Nodal apps, e-KYC. These channels have been driving Offices, PoPs, e-NPS or through NPS Mobile the efficiencies. Through e-NPS, a person can Applications. An additional option/mode of conveniently register and contribute online. contribution namely Direct Remittance (D- Remit) Online contribution facility under NPS is also 27Part I is introduced wherein the existing NPS Subscribers like Central Government, State Government, under Government/All Citizens Model are Corporate, All-Citizen, NPS Lite, Atal pension able to deposit their voluntary contributions by Yojana (a GOI scheme, administered by PFRDA). creating a Virtual ID linked to their PRANs and The Authority has been engaged in expanding to provide them same day NAV on investments. coverage through creation of mass awareness Through D Remit, not only one time contributions through print, electronic and social media, can be made but also periodic NPS contributions engaging a training agency for imparting training can be automated for any defined amount and and capacity building for officials of banks, for any defined date from the Subscribers bank post offices, POPs, Nodal Offices, appointment account. The option of contribution into NPS of retirement advisors, facilitating ease of on- through D Remit has also been extended to NRI- boarding and transaction through e-NPS etc. NPS subscribers who can contribute to their NPS Security accounts from funds in their NRO/NRE accounts. At the time of withdrawal/Exit, the proceeds of PFRDA has put in place an extensive framework of NPS shall be credited into NRO/NRE account of regulations under the PFRDA Act 2013 to ensure NRI subscribers and repatriation would be as per the security of pension assets to minimize the risk applicable FEMA guidelines. to the pension funds that have been accumulated to provide retirement benefits. These regulations 1.8 A Brief on the Review of the Objectives include strenuous eligibility criteria for selection, of PFRDA during the year. detailed Corporate Governance frameworks, fit The preamble to the PFRDA Act 2013, lays down and proper criteria, extensive code of conduct, the objectives of the Authority as the promotion of detailed roles and responsibilities, penalty old age income security, through regulation and structures for all intermediaries including Pension development and protection of the interests of the Funds to ensure the security of assets. These subscribers to schemes of Pension Funds and for regulations have been reviewed and strengthened matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. from time to time. In order to further strengthen PFRDA has been actively engaged in the promotion the IT supervisory processes, the PFRDA, is and development of NPS (all its variants) and Atal focusing on implementation of cyber security, and Pension Yojana, regulation and supervision of all will ensure the coverage. intermediaries under NPS towards the overall Efficiency objective of provision of old age income security It has been the endeavour of the Authority to and protection of subscriber’s interest. While optimize the efficiency in the system through engaged in these activities, in keeping with the maximizing returns to the subscribers subject preamble of PFRDA Act 2013 and the best global to acceptable risks. This has been done through practices, the PFRDA endeavours to achieve the review of the investment guidelines from time to following broad objectives/outcomes: time to optimize the returns. Introduction of two • Increasing Coverage new life cycle funds like LC 25 and LC 75 and • Security introduction of a new Asset Class “A” for private • Efficiency sector subscribers are some of the steps in this • Adequacy direction. • Sustainability Efficiency also relates to the efficiency of the labour and capital markets, as each interacts with Increasing Coverage the pension system through direct contributions Provision of the old age income security to all to pensions (through longer working lives and sections of the population has been one of the contributions, lower costs of capital, or greater important objectives of the Authority. While financial inclusion) as well as through indirect PFRDA Act 2013 mandates regulation of NPS, a contributions to jobs and investment. PFRDA number of variants of NPS have been introduced has been actively engaged in financial inclusion to cover different sections of the population through awareness creation for APY subscribers 28Annual Report | 2020-21 in particular and NPS in general. habit and investment discipline has important For capital markets, efficiency relates to capital role to play in achieving the endeavour of a market depth through the development of sustainable pension system. PFRDA has initiated non-bank financial capital to fund productive several steps to increase the awareness level of investment and maximize the benefits of wider retirement saving/pension and to in furtherance capital market reforms. PFRDA has been parts of these objectives. of inter regulatory groups and committees in 1.9 Intermediaries under NPS furtherance of these objectives. The other endeavour of the Authority is to 1.9.1 Intermediaries and Other Entities strengthen the intermediaries under NPS. The Associated with National Pension System and strengthening of intermediaries is very important Other Pension Schemes Covered under the Act as to have a fair and transparent system. The National Pension System (NPS) works under Strengthening by the means of sharing and an unbundled architecture with each function imparting correct knowledge to Intermediaries assigned to specialized entities in the field. The about the product and process, laying of proper NPS architecture consists of Points of Presence guidelines enables the entire system to function (POP), Government Department Nodal Offices, properly. The disciplined system ensures and Central Record-keeping Agency (CRA), Trustee protects the subscribers’ interest. Bank, Pension Funds (PF‘s), NPS Trust, Custodian, Annuity Service Providers and Retirement Adequacy Advisers. One of the important objectives of any pension system is to have the adequate pension wealth to the 1.9.1.1 Points of Presence (PoPs) subscribers at the time of retirement i.e. facilitating Points of Presence are banks and non-banking accumulation of retirement benefit entitlements to financial companies etc registered with PFRDA for enable them for old age income security. While registration and servicing of the subscribers to the NPS is a defined contribution scheme, without NPS. A PoP is the first point of interaction between guarantee of any benefits, however, as a measure the subscriber and the NPS. The registered PoPs of good practice, Authority’s endeavour has been have authorized branches called POP-Service to work towards ensuring adequate pension providers (PoP-SPs) to act as collection points wealth on retirement, through various measures and extend services to customers. The functions including increasing the age of contribution to NPS of the PoPs include: subscriber’s registration, beyond 60 years, review of investment guidelines processing subscriber contributions, change in for optimizing returns, increasing contributions personal details, change in investment scheme/ through engaging with the government for tax fund manager, processing subscriber shifting from concessions etc. Further going ahead, under one model to the other, issuing printed account voluntary sector like All Citizen Model, Corporate statement, processing of withdrawal/ exit request Model has been allowed to onboard NPS even on superannuation etc. after 60 years of age. 1.9.1.2 Government Nodal Offices Sustainability (i) Central Government Nodal Offices Sustainability is one of focal point of any PrAO, PAO and DDO contributory pension system. Through NPS, there is an effort to offer pension product to different The Principal Accounts Office (PrAO), Pay and segment of society of the country, which can Accounts Office (PAO) and Drawing & Disbursing sustain in a long run to achieve the ultimate goal Office (DDO) under the Central Government or of providing a secured old age income. NPS is a analogous offices under Central Government and defined contribution scheme, with institutional Central Autonomous Bodies are intermediaries framework and product design, it empowers itself which interact with CRA on behalf of the to sustain in a long run. The continued savings Subscribers for purpose of NPS. 29Part I (ii) State Government Nodal Offices (iv) Providing a centralized grievance management system. DTA, DTO and DDO (v) Providing timely fund transfer related The Directorate of Treasury and Accounts (DTA), information to the fund managers. District Treasury Office (DTO) and Drawing (vi) Co-ordination with the Trustee Bank & Disbursing Office (DDO) under the State for remitting withdrawal funds to the Governments or analogous offices under State subscribers’ account and to the annuity Governments and State Autonomous Bodies are service provider for the annuity scheme. intermediaries which interact with CRA on behalf of the Subscribers for purpose of NPS. PFRDA has also granted Certificate of Registration (CoR) to Computer Age Management Services Ltd. Nodal Offices are the identified offices of (CAMS) to act as Central Record keeping Agency Government agencies register under CRA system (CRA) for NPS under PFRDA (CRA) Regulations, for various operational works under NPS. These 2015. offices are identified by a unique number, i.e., Pr.AO /PAO/ DDO registration number that 1.9.1.4 Trustee Bank is allotted to them by the CRA on successful The Trustee Bank handles the flow of funds registration. These offices have major role to play between various intermediaries under NPS. few of them are as below: Presently, Axis Bank Ltd is the designated bank • Submission of Forms for subscriber to facilitate fund transfers across subscribers, registration fund managers and the annuity service providers • Distribution of PRAN kits to subscribers based on the instructions received from the CRA. • Providing timely and accurate information The Trustee Bank receives funds from the Nodal about contributions of the subscribers Offices/PoPs/Aggregators and reconciles it with the Subscriber Contribution File. The Trustee Bank • Forwarding request of the subscribers for holds the funds in the name of the NPS Trust and necessary action the subscribers are the beneficial owners. • Resolving grievances of the subscribers • Forwarding approved withdrawal requests 1.9.1.5 Pension Funds (PFs) of the subscribers These are professional pension fund managers appointed to invest, judiciously and prudently, 1.9.1.3 Central Record-keeping Agency (CRA) the pension corpus in a portfolio of securities NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd. and K-fin and manage them. Currently the pension fund Technologies Pvt. Ltd. have been designated the managers under NPS are –ICICI Prudential CRAs for the NPS. Their main functions include: Pension Funds Management Company Ltd., (i) Maintaining subscriber records, LIC Pension Fund Ltd, Kotak Mahindra Pension administration and customer service Fund Ltd., SBI Pension Fund Private Ltd., UTI functions. Retirement Solutions Ltd, and HDFC Pension Management Co Ltd., Aditya Birla Sun Life (ii) Issuing Permanent Retirement Account Pension Management Limited Their functions Number (PRAN) for each subscriber, include: maintaining the database of all PRANs and recording transactions relating to each (i) Ensuring investment as per investment PRAN. guidelines (iii) Acting as the interface between the (ii) Investing the contributions in the schemes various intermediaries of the NPS system. as per the instructions provided by CRA. This includes monitoring contributions (iii) Constructing the scheme portfolio. by each member and instructions and (iv) Maintenance of books and records, reporting communication of the same to the pension to the Aauthority and making disclosures. funds. Periodically, they also send PRAN statement to each member. 30Annual Report | 2020-21 1.9.1.6 Custodian of Securities 1.9.2 Types of Account The securities purchased from NPS corpus in the Under NPS following two types of accounts are name of the NPS trust are held by the Custodian available: of Securities, who also facilitates securities (i) Tier-I account: Under Tier-I account the transactions by making and accepting delivery subscriber contributes his savings for of securities. The PFRDA has appointed the retirement/ pension into this partially Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd as the withdraw-able account. Premature Custodian. The functions include: withdrawals are allowed subject to certain (i) Having Custody of the Securities held in the conditions. name of NPS Trust, purchased out of NPS (ii) Tier-II account: This is a voluntary Corpus. investment account where the subscriber (ii) Maintaining details of securities held. is free to deposit and withdraw the savings (iii) Collecting the benefits like dividend, rights, from this account whenever he/she wishes. bonus etc. on securities. Beside NPS, PFRDA also administers and (iv) Informing about the actions of the issuers of regulates the Atal Pension Yojana. securities held that may impact the benefits. 1.9.3 Outreach 1.9.1.7 NPS Trust For fulfilling PFRDA’s mandate of creating NPS Trust is a trust set up under the Indian Trusts Act, which holds the assets of the NPS awareness about the need of saving for retirement for the benefit of subscribers. The Trust has the and retirement planning, PFRDA undertakes fiduciary responsibility of taking care of the funds various activities including imparting training and protecting the subscriber interests. The NPS through training agencies selected by PFRDA. Trust monitors and supervises the functioning These training agencies impart training to the of the Pension Funds and interacts with other Central and State Government Nodal Officers, Pay intermediaries like the Central Recordkeeping & Accounts Offices (PAOs), Drawing & Offices Agency (CRA), Trustee Bank, Custodians and (DDOs), Points of Presence/ Banks/ Post Offices other entities. involved in the registration of subscribers, about the salient features of the NPS / APY, the process 1.9.1.8 Annuity Service Providers of joining etc. Further, training workshops/ Annuity Service Providers (ASPs) are insurance camps have been organized for subscribers across companies regulated by IRDAI, and empanelled the sector and geography as a part of a wider by the PFRDA to provide the annuity to the NPS financial consumer protection policy. NPS/APY subscribers from the bouquet of annuities offered by them. trainings were imparted only through online mode i.e. video conferencing and the appointed 1.9.1.9 Retirement Advisers training agency conducted a total of 255 online Retirement Adviser means any person being training sessions for 12024 participants during the an individual, registered partnership firm, financial year. Moreover, 13 training programs/ body corporate, or any registered trust or workshops were conducted directly by PFRDA society, who desires to engage in the activity of notably for; NAHRD, ISTM, CCI, NPC, IFSCA, providing advice on National Pension System ICICI Securities. Assets under Management or other pension scheme regulated by PFRDA to which includes the returns on the corpus, under prospects/subscribers or other persons or group the NPS and APY have witnessed an increase of persons and is registered as such under PFRDA from Rs. 4,17,479 crore as on March 31, 2020 to (Retirement Adviser) Regulations, 2016. The list of Rs. 578,025 crore as on March 31, 2021, registering a Individual and Other than Individual Retirement year-on-year increase of 38.46 per cent. Adviser is available on PFRDAs’ website. 31Part II Part - II Investment of Funds under NPS This chapter deals with the investments of funds funds shall be done by the pension fund on under NPS and other pension schemes covered behalf of the National Pension System Trust. under the Act, and the extent of exposure in the iii) The pension fund shall, at all times National Pension System, in different categories render high standards of service, exercise of investments including Government securities, reasonable care, prudence, professional debt securities and equities in accordance with skill, promptness, diligence and vigilance Appendix II of the Pension Fund Regulatory and while discharging its duties in the best Development Authority (Reports, Returns and interests of the subscribers. The pension Statements) Rules, 2015. funds shall avoid speculative investments or transactions. iv) The pension fund shall employ well qualified 2.1 Pension Funds (PFs) professionals or staff with high integrity. Pension fund means an intermediary which has The pension fund shall be responsible for been granted a certificate of registration under the acts of commissions or omissions by its sub - section (3) of section 27 by the Authority employees or authorised persons whose as a pension fund for receiving contributions, services have been procured and its liability accumulating them and making payments to the for such acts of commissions or omissions. subscriber in the manner as may be specified by This liability shall survive despite the regulations. cancellation or suspension or withdrawal of Appointed and registered Pension Funds manage certificate of registration or supersession of pension corpus through various schemes under management by the Authority. National Pension System or any other Scheme. v) The pension fund shall facilitate and co- Pension Funds use their access codes to confirm ordinate with other intermediaries and receipt of netted assets and instructions regarding other entities inter-alia through agreements, fund allocation, confirm allocation of funds and technological platforms for undertaking its communicate the NAV of each scheme to CRA functional obligations. and the custodian on a regular basis. vi) The pension fund shall maintain books of accounts, records, registers and documents Pension Fund Regulatory and Development relating to the operations of the pension Authority (Pension Fund) Regulations, 2015 were schemes to ensure compliance with the notified on 14th May, 2015 and the Pension Funds regulations, guidelines, circulars issued had to abide by these regulations including any by the Authority from time to time, and amendments thereunder. facilitate audit trail of transactions and business continuity at all times. 2.1.1 Functions of Pension Funds vii) The pension fund shall submit periodical The functions of the Pension Funds include, but and compliance reports as required under are not limited to the points mentioned below: these regulations, guidelines or circulars, i) The management of pensions schemes shall or as may be called for by the Authority, or be carried in accordance with the objects of as required by the National Pension System the schemes, provisions of the Act, Trust Trust from time to times. Deed, rules, regulations, guidelines and viii) The pension fund shall undertake public circulars issued by the Authority from time disclosure of information for the benefit of to time and within the time lines as specified subscribers in the mode and manner as may by the Authority or the National Pension be specified by the Authority in Schedule V. System Trust. ix) The pension fund shall adopt best ii) The day-to-day management of the pension governance practices for investments 32Annual Report | 2020-21 and risk management viz. constitution of (vii) UTI Retirement Solutions Limited Investment Committee and Risk Committee, As on March 31, 2021, the Investment management its composition, functions, policy contents fee charged by Pension funds for the non-govt. and other like matters as specified in sector portfolio is 0.01 per cent per annum of the Schedule X. assets under management (AUM). x) The pension fund shall prevent conflict of interests that may arise while discharging 2.2 Schemes the obligations as a pension fund and The subscribers in NPS fall under the following reporting of such instances to the National sectors: Pension System Trust. (i) Government Sector (Central Government/ xi) The pension fund shall ensure exclusivity State Government including Autonomous and segregation of pension fund business Bodies) activities from its sponsors. (ii) NPS Lite xii) The pension fund shall ensure confidentiality (iii) Atal Pension Yojana (APY) with respect to subscribers’ information (iv) All Citizen/UoS and activities relating to the pension fund (v) Corporate Sector and protection of all information within its control except as required by the Authority Investments under NPS for the above sectors or the National Pension System Trust or are made as prescribed under the investment provisions of any law. guidelines issued by the Authority and equity xiii) The pension fund shall provide such exposure has been specified since inception for all representations and warranties as may be the schemes /segments. The investment options necessary for the protection of subscribers’ under NPS vary from Sector to Sector. interest on behalf of the National Pension System Trust. 2.2.1 Government Sector (Central Government/ 2.1.2 List of Pension Funds (PFs) for Government State Governments including Central Sector NPS Schemes (i.e. Central Government Autonomous Bodies and State Autonomous (CG)and State Governments (SG) including Bodies) autonomous bodies), NPS-Lite and APY. As per the PFRDA’s investment guidelines, i) LIC Pension Fund Limited following exposure limits have been decided for ii) SBI Pension Funds Private Ltd the Government sector including CABs/SABs iii) UTI Retirement Solutions Ltd under NPS: As on 31.03.2021, the investment management fee Table No. 2.1: Allocation of Assets in charged by Pension Funds for managing the Govt. Government Sector employees NPS portfolio is 0.0102 per cent per annum of the assets under management (AUM). Particulars Maximum Exposure Limits 2.1.3 List of Pension Funds (PFs) for Private (In Per cent) Sector NPS schemes Government Securities & 55 (i) HDFC Pension Management Company related investments Limited Debt Instruments & Related 45 (ii) ICICI Prudential Pension Funds investments Management Company Limited Equity & related investments 15 (iii) Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Limited Short term debt instruments 10 (iv) Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Management & related investments Limited (v) LIC Pension Fund Limited Asset backed, trust 5 (vi) SBI Pension Funds Private Limited structured & Miscellaneous investments 33Part II Under the government sector, 3 public sector The Central Government subscribers under Pension Funds i.e. LIC Pension Fund Limited, NPS may exercise one of the above choices of SBI Pension Funds Private Limited and UTI investment pattern twice in a financial year. Retirement Solutions Limited manage and invest Some of the State Governments have also extended the contributions in the ratio (among the 3 pension above choice of investments. funds) as decided by the Authority from time to time. 2.2.2 NPS Lite Further, based on the Government’s OM no. The fresh enrollments under NPS Lite had been 1/3/2016-PR dated January 31, 2019 and as discontinued w.e.f April 1, .2015. However, for the existing NPS Lite subscribers, as per the PFRDA’s per the Authority’s circular dated May 8, 2019; investment guidelines, following exposure limits Government employees (Central Government have been decided for the NPS Lite sector: only) have been given the following options: Table No. 2.2: Allocation of assets in NPS Lite Choice of Pension Fund Sector As in the case of subscribers in the private sector, the Government subscribers shall also be allowed Particulars Maximum to choose any one of the pension funds including Exposure Limits (In Per cent) private sector pension funds. They could change their option once in a year. However, the current Government Securities & 55 provision of combination of the Public sector related investments pension funds will be available as the default Debt Instruments & related 45 option for both existing as well as new Government investments subscribers. Equity & related investments 15 Choice of Investment Pattern Short term debt instruments 10 i. Existing scheme in which funds are allocated & related investments by the PFRDA among three Public Sector Asset backed, trust 5 Undertaking fund managers based on structured & Miscellaneous their past performance in accordance with investments the guidelines of PFRDA for Government employees shall continue as default scheme Under NPS Lite, only 3 public sector Pension Funds for both existing and new subscribers. i.e. LIC Pension Fund Limited, SBI Pension Funds ii. Government employees who prefer a fixed Private Limited and UTI Retirement Solutions return with minimum amount of risk shall Limited manage and invest the contributions in the ratio (among the 3 pension funds) as decided by be given an option to invest 100 per cent of the Authority from time to time. Further, a single the funds in Government securities (Scheme private sector Pension Fund i.e. Kotak Mahindra G) Pension Fund Limited has been chosen by one of iii. Government employees who prefer higher the aggregator for managing the contributions. returns shall be given the options of the Under NPS- Lite scheme, no selection of Pension following two life-cycle based schemes: Fund or the asset allocation is offered to the a) Conservative life cycle fund with maximum subscribers. exposure to equity capped at 25 per cent - LC-25 2.2.3 Atal Pension Yojana b) Moderate life cycle fund with maximum Atal Pension Yojana (APY), a Government exposure to equity capped at 50 per cent - pension scheme for citizens of India, is focused on LC-50 34Annual Report | 2020-21 the unorganised sector workers. Under the APY, As per the PFRDA’s investment guidelines, guaranteed minimum pension of Rs. 1,000/- or following exposure limits have been decided for 2,000/- or 3,000/-or 4,000 or 5,000/- per month the All Citizen Un-Organized Sector under NPS: will be given at the age of 60 years depending on the contributions made by the subscribers. Table No. 2.4: Allocation of Assets in All Citizen/UoS Sector Under Atal Pension Yojana (APY), no selection of Pension Fund or the asset allocation is offered to the Particulars Maximum subscribers because it is a guaranteed government Exposure Limits scheme and the asset allocation is kept same as for (In Per cent) the Government sector employees under NPS as Equity & related 75 per the following: investments Table No. 2.3: Allocation of assets in Atal Debt Instruments & related 100 Pension Yojana Sector investments Government Securities & 100 Particulars Maximum related investments Exposure Limits (In Per cent) Short term investments 10 (money market, short Government Securities & 55 duration mutual funds, & related investments term deposits) Debt Instruments & 45 related investments Option of change of Pension Fund and investment choice: Equity & related 15 investments Further, Pension Fund can be changed once in a financial year and Investment Option can Short term debt 10 be changed twice in a financial year by the instruments & related subscriber. investments Asset backed, 5 2.2.5 Corporate Sector trust structured For subscribers belonging to Corporate Sector & Miscellaneous – where the employer has adopted NPS for its investments employees, the investment options and choices have been kept flexible. Under Atal Pension Yojana, 3 public sector Pension Funds i.e. LIC Pension Fund Limited/ There are two types of schemes under this segment: SBI Pension Funds Private Limited and UTI Retirement Solutions Limited manage and invest (i) Corporate CG scheme the contributions in the ratio (among the 3 pension This scheme has been discontinued and it is not funds) as decided by the Authority from time to available under corporate segment but those time. corporates which were already covered under this scheme and have not changed this scheme are still 2.2.4 All Citizen / Unorganised Sector continuing under this scheme. The subscribers under All Citizen Un-Organized As per the PFRDA’s investment guidelines, Sector may opt for any of the investment pattern following exposure limits have been decided for i.e. “Active Choice” or “Auto Choice”. the Corporate CG sector under NPS: 35Part II Table No. 2.5: Allocation of assets in The subscribers under this sector may opt for any Corporate CG Sector of the investment pattern i.e. “Active Choice” or “Auto Choice”. Particulars Maximum Exposure As per the PFRDA’s investment guidelines, Limits following exposure limits have been decided for (In Per cent) the corporate Sector under NPS: Government Securities & 55 Table No. 2.6: Allocation of assets in related investments Corporate Sector Debt Instruments & related 45 investments Particulars Maximum Exposure Limits Equity & related investments 15 (In Per cent) Short term debt instruments & 10 Equity & related 75 related investments investments Asset backed, trust structured 5 Debt Instruments & 100 & Miscellaneous investments related investments Under this Corporate CG scheme, investments Government Securities & 100 are with 02 Pension Funds i.e. LIC Pension Fund related investments Limited or SBI Pension Funds Private Limited. Short term investments 10 (ii) Other schemes presently available under (money market, short corporate segment duration mutual funds, & term deposits) Under this scheme, the employer may delegate the responsibility of selecting a Pension Fund and/or Options of Change of Pension Funds and mode of investment to employees or the employer Investment Choice may select a Pension Fund and/or the Life Cycle Fund on behalf of its employees. These aspects Further, Pension Fund can be changed once in related to NPS may form part of the employer- a financial year and Investment Option can be employee arrangement. As per the investment changed twice in a financial year by the subscriber. option exercised, the employer or the subscriber has to select any of the one registered Pension 2.2.6 Tier II Tax Saver Scheme (TTS) Fund and further selection of asset allocation The scheme is only available for NPS subscribers among the four asset classes as per the following: belonging to the Central Government. There is a lock-in period of 3 years from the date • Asset class E -Equity and related instruments of unitization of contributions by Central • Asset class C -Corporate debt and related Recordkeeping Agencies to enjoy the tax benefits instruments u/s 80C of Income Tax Act. • Asset class G –Government Bonds and related instruments No withdrawals will be allowed during the lock- • Asset Class A -Alternative Investment in period, however, in case of death of subscriber, Funds including instruments like CMBS, the corpus can be withdrawn by the nominee/ MBS, REITS, AIFs, InvlTs. legal heir. 36Annual Report | 2020-21 In case of closure of Tier-I account due to exit Table 2.7: Details of Asset under Management from NPS, contributions to NPS-TTS will not be (Amt. in Rs. crore) allowed until the completion of the lock-in period. Scheme March 31, March 31, Growth (In 2020 2021 per cent) The following investment limits have been CG 1,38,014.59 1,81,416.26 prescribed to the Pension Funds with respect to SG 2,11,499.67 2,91,959.92 TTS: Subtotal 3,49,514.26 4,73,376.18 35.44 Cor. CG 27,143.03 36,929.68 Asset Classes Maximum E-I 7,932.05 18,979.51 Exposure Limits C-I 6,495.76 9,686.52 (In Per cent) G-I 10,992.80 16,766.29 A-I 39.60 74.76 Equity 10 - 25 E-II 352.55 850.98 C-II 297.26 482.73 Debt 90 G-II 457.16 835.49 Tier II - TTS - 2.12 Cash/Money Market/ 5 NPS Lite 3,728.40 4,354.38 Liquid mutual funds APY 10,526.26 15,687.11 Subtotal 67,964.87 1,04,649.56 53.97 Option of change of Pension Fund and Grand 4,17,479.13 5,78,025.74 38.46 investment choice Total *Source NPS-Trust The subscribers do not have any choice of The table above indicate that the asset under investment options under this scheme. However, management for government sector NPS schemes the TTS subscribers are allowed to have maximum (CG and SG) has grown by around 35 per cent, of 3 pension funds separately however the PF however the asset under management of the change will be allowed only after completion of schemes other than these two schemes has grown lock-in period. by around 54 per cent. In terms of absolute number, The details of the schemes wise asset under the government sector schemes grew by Rs. 1,23,862 management is given in the table below: - crore whereas other than government sector schemes in aggregate grew by Rs. 36,685 crore. Table No. 2.8: Pension Fund wise and Sector-wise (CG, SG, NPS Lite, APY & Corporate CG) Asset under Management as on March 31, 2021 (Amt. in Rs. crore) Name of Pension Fund/ Schemes CG SG NPS APY Corp. CG Grand Lite Total SBI Pension Funds Pvt. Ltd 63982.48 100846.69 1777.02 5334.46 35003.50 206944.15 LIC Pension Fund Ltd. 56922.24 94067.92 1267.61 5174.44 1926.18 159358.39 UTI Retirement Solutions Ltd 60511.54 97045.31 1241.53 5178.21 163976.59 ICICI Prudential Pension Fund Management Co. Ltd. Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Ltd. 68.22 68.22 HDFC Pension Management Co. Ltd. Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Management Ltd. 37Part II Table No. 2.9: Pension Fund wise vis-a-vis Scheme-wise (E-I, C-I, G-I ,A-I ,E-II , C-II & G-II) Asset under Management as on March 31, 2021 (Amt. in Rs. crore) Name of Pension E-I C-I G-I E-II C-II G-II A-I TTS- Grand Fund/ Scheme II Total SBI Pension Funds 5736.48 3157.80 6150.27 230.12 137.91 239.90 17.78 0.79 15671.05 Pvt. Ltd LIC Pension Fund 1530.26 832.11 1452.57 59.03 38.44 114.54 4.00 0.21 4031.16 Ltd. UTI Retirement 871.55 449.94 805.78 44.13 20.88 37.07 3.11 0.15 2232.61 Solutions Ltd ICICI Prudential 3045.66 1612.66 2504.95 152.92 95.75 137.54 9.04 0.12 7558.64 Pension Fund Management Co. Ltd. Kotak Mahindra 604.29 307.97 490.90 42.82 21.40 33.22 3.24 0.08 1503.92 Pension Fund Ltd. HDFC Pension 7066.07 3271.34 5276.12 309.55 161.51 262.35 36.34 0.70 16383.98 Management Co. Ltd. Aditya Birla Sun 125.20 54.69 85.71 12.42 6.83 10.86 1.25 0.07 297.03 Life Pension Management Ltd. The asset class wise bifurcation of the assets under management as on March, 2021 vis-a-vis March 2020 is given below: - Table No. 2.10: Asset Class wise bifurcation of Asset under Management March 31, 2020 March 31, 2021 Asset Class Amount Percentage of Amount Percentage of (Rs. crore) Investment (Rs. crore) Investment G-Sec 214303 51 286132 49 Corporate Bond 143608 35 176412 30 Equity 42827 10 91400 16 Money Market 8827 2 15347 3 Cash & Net 7915 2 8734 2 Current Assets Total 417479 100 578025 100 Source: NPS Trust 38Annual Report | 2020-21 Chart No. 2.1: Asset Class wise bifurcation of Assets under Management As explained above, the different schemes are Governments (SG), State Autonomous managed by different Pension Fund managers, bodies (SABs) & Central Autonomous the details of asset under management of various Bodies (CABs). schemes under the respective Pension Funds are This circular refers to the Gazette Notification given below:- F.N. 1/3/2016-PR dated January 31, 2019 2.3 Regulations, Notification, issuance of major issued by Dept. of Financial Services (DFS), Circulars / Guidelines w.r.t. Pension Fund. Ministry of Finance (MoF), pursuant to which the Authority vide circular dated (i) Pension Fund Regulatory and May 8, 2019, introduced the choice of Development Authority (Pension Fund) pension fund and investment pattern in the (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2020 Tier I of the NPS for the employees of the dated May 14, 2020. Central Government. It was clarified that The amendment states about the matter of the State Governments (SG)/SABs/CABs joint ventures between the sponsors and are free to adopt the provisions of the said requirement of memorandum with timelines Gazette notifications on their own volition, specified therein and sponsor to provide the based on their own internal approvals pension fund with adequate and necessary and notifications, without seeking the infrastructure, dedicated manpower, Authority’s approval. systems and procedures, information (iii) Change in Investment Guidelines for technology and information security NPS schemes and other Pension schemes systems with capabilities to adapt to future administered by PFRDA. changes or any other requirement as may be This circular permits additional exposure specified by the Authority, information on of 5 per cent of the corpus in the short term key personnel etc. Few sub regulations have debt securities and related investments’ in been deleted and addition have been carried Scheme E-I, E-II, C-I and G-I under NPS out. so that the Pension Funds may deploy (ii) Choice of Pension Funds and Investment additional cash and cash equivalents during Pattern in Tier-I of NPS for the Government the highly volatile market conditions. It is subscribers employed with State 39Part II decided to allow Pension Funds to invest National Pension System. in Listed (or proposed to be listed in case of The circular contains the Guidelines issued fresh issue) debt securities issued by body by PFRDA on aggregate holding of equity corporates including banks and financial shares by a foreign company in Pension institutions which have a minimum residual Funds as provided under Section 24 of the maturity period of three years or less than PFRDA act, 2013 along with a manner of three years from the date of investment, calculation of such aggregate holding of subject to maximum limit of 10 per cent of equity shares by a foreign company in a the corporate bond portfolio of the Pension Pension Fund under NPS. Fund. (vi) Transfer of Legacy Funds of NPS Subscribers Further, the Pension Funds are allowed of Government Sectors (SGs/CABs/SABs) to invest in the Debt ETFs launched by pursuant to opening of choice of Investment Government of India, up to 5 per cent of schemes and Pension Funds. Asset under Management of Corporate In case Subscribers of the SGs/SABs/CABs Bond Portfolio of the respective scheme decide to open up the choices of pension under the Investment guidelines for NPS funds or allocations of funds, then by schemes/other schemes administered by exercising the option of choice of investment PFRDA. schemes and pension funds, their entire iv) Revised timelines for uploading NAV accumulated corpus under PRAN account (scheme wise) and NAV history (since shall be transferred to the opted Pension inception) by Pension Funds Funds /asset allocation. Further, the Due to change in valuation methodologies as subscribers who have already exercised this put in place by SEBI circular dated September option, their legacy fund shall be transferred 24, 2019 regarding change in valuation of to the Pension Fund and assets allocation all other money market securities and debt opted by them. securities, on the basis of VWAY (Value (vii) Revision in Annual Fee paid by Pension Weighted Average Yield) of all trades Funds under PFRDA (Pension Fund) during the day, PFRDA has decided to Regulations, 2015 and subsequent extend the timeline for NAV declaration by amendments thereto the Pension Funds for uploading the Net Through this circular it is informed that, Asset Value (NAV) (scheme wise) and NAV for newly registered Pension Funds under History (since inception) by Pension Funds Regulation 9, the Annual Fee shall be revised on the websites of CRAs from existing ‘by as "0.015% of Assets under Management or 9.00 PM on the same day’ to ‘by 10.00 PM on Rs.10,00,000/-per annum (Rs. 2,50,000/- the same day’. per quarter or part thereof), whichever is (v) Guidelines on aggregate holding of equity higher". shares by a foreign company in Pension 2.4 Inspection Funds as provided under Section 24 of the During the Financial Year 2020-21, no inspection of PFRDA act, 2013- Manner of calculation of Pension Funds was conducted due the lockdown such aggregate holding of equity shares by imposed caused by COVID-19. a foreign company in a Pension Fund under 40Annual Report | 2020-21 Part III The chapter deals with duty, power and functions pension assets of the subscribers covered under of the Authority for promotion and orderly growth NPS as per the investment guidelines prescribed of the National Pension System and pension by PFRDA and Annuity Service Providers (ASPs), schemes in accordance with Section 14 of Pension empaneled with PFRDA to provide a monthly Fund Regulatory and Development Authority annuity pension to the subscriber. Act, 2013 to protect the interests of subscribers of such System and schemes. i) Government Sector - Central and State Autonomous Bodies Functions of the Authority Registration of Autonomous Bodies: Continuous efforts have been made to register Central and 3.1 Registration of intermediaries and suspension, State Autonomous bodies by interacting with them cancellation, etc., of such registration; and as well as with the respective Financial Advisors regulation of activities of the intermediaries of Central Ministries and Nodal Officers of the associated with the National Pension System or State Governments. PFRDA also assisted State the pension schemes Governments towards streamlining guidelines Section 14 of the PFRDA Act, 2013 lays down the and notifications for registration of SABs. duties, powers and functions of the Authority to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of Further, processing of Letters of Consent (LoCs) the National Pension System and pension schemes, received from CABs and SABs after ensuring and to protect the interests of subscribers of such the compliance of stipulated guidelines issued system and schemes. by Central Government and State Governments and also handles queries of NPS during pre- The National Pension System and any other registration process are undertaken. Pension Scheme which are operationalized by PFRDA through large number of entities such as Letters of consent processed in FY 2020-21 Pay & Accounts offices / Treasury Offices at the Central and State Government, they are responsible (i) CABs – 30 (ii) SABs – 89 for the registration and upload of the periodic NPS As on March 31, 2021, the number of PrAOs/ subscription of the Government employees on the DTAs, PAOs/DTOs and DDOs are as under NPSCAN, the Point of Presence (PoPs) which are Banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC), Table No. 3.1 Number of PrAOs/ DTAs, No. Micro Finance Institutions (MFI) etc. which assist of PAOs/DTOs and No. of DDOs in the registration and upload of NPS subscription for the corporate, private sector and unorganized Sector No. of No. of No. of PrAOs/ PAOs/ DDOs sector subscribers, the Aggregators (now POPs) DTAs DTOs which help in the last-mile reach to the potential subscribers particularly in the informal sector, the Central 134 2,987 16,221 Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA), which is Government responsible for the recordkeeping of individual Central 631 1,989 4,088 pension accounts called PRAN of the subscribers Autonomous and acts as a coordinator for the NPS architecture, Body Trustee Bank, responsible for the day-to-day Total 765 4,976 20,309 flow of funds and banking facilities, the Pension Funds (PFs), mandated to invest and manage the 41PART III Table No. 3.2 Number of DTA/DTOs/DDOs Table No. 3.3 Registration of new CABs and SABs during FY 2020-21 Sector No. of No. of No. of DTA DTOs DDOs Details As on As on Registration State 72 31 1,986 March 31, March 31, during the Government 2021 2020 FY 2020-21 State 560 1,459 5,242 Autonomous CABs 630 603 27 Body SABs 1,459 1,318 141 Total 632 1,490 7,228 Table No. 3.4 Newly registered CABs & SABs Financial Year Wise FY wise performance FY 2016-17 FY 2017-18 FY 2018-19 FY 2019-20 FY 2020-21 Newly registered CABs 18 25 25 24 27 Newly registered SABs 179 272 107 133 141 Source: Sup (CAB/SAB) & P&D (CAB/SAB) As on March 31, 2021, there total 1,459 State permitted to function which has covered its Autonomous Bodies and 630 Central Autonomous employees for social security benefits under Bodies are registered under NPS. the provisions of the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, Further, there are 175 PoPs (registered with CRAs), 1952 or the Employees State Insurance three Central Recordkeeping Agency, one Trustee Act, 1948 or under the Goods and Services Bank, seven Pension Funds and fourteen Annuity Act, 2017 and is registered with authorities Service Providers as on March 31, 2021. under the said enactments, for not less than a period of two years, from the date of the ii) Points of Presence (PoPs) application Registration of POPs: Though, Atal Pension (iv) NPS Lite- scheme Yojana (APY) is administered by PFRDA but (v) Atal Pension Yojana there were no regulations for entities offering APY services. To bring APY under the ambit of (vi) Any other scheme regulated or administered PFRDA, PFRDA (POP) Regulations, 2018 were by Authority notified and APY was also included under it as a Under POP Regulations, 2018, PFRDA has issued separate category of POP. Certificate of Registration (CoR) to PoPs and PoP- SEs, number of CoR issued as on March 31, 2021 Categories of POPs under current regulations are as below: are as below: (i) PoPs – 306 (ii) PoP-SEs – 39 (i) National Pension System (NPS) – Distribution and servicing for public at large Further, 17 PoPs and 1 PoP-SE were also through physical as well as online platforms de-registered during FY 2020-21. (ii) National Pension System (NPS) – iii) Pension Funds Distribution and servicing for citizens at large through online platforms only The Letters of Appointment have been issued on (iii) National Pension System (NPS) – 19.03.2021 to the Sponsors of 5 existing Pension Distribution and servicing only for own Funds (SBI PF, LIC PF, UTI RSL, HDFC PF & ICICI employees and other personnel either PF) and 1 new Sponsor (Axis AMC Ltd.) selected through physical or online platforms. through the Request for Proposal (RFP) issued on Provided that only such entities shall be December 23, 2020. 42Annual Report | 2020-21 Certificates of Registration (CoR) have been issued Management Ltd. on Revalidation and to existing Pension Funds (SBI PF, LIC PF, UTI Extension of Certificate of Registration. RSL, HDFC PF & ICICI PF) on March 30, 2021. Fresh Certificate of Registration has been issued to Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension The Investment Management Fee has been revised Management Ltd. in changed name. w.e.f. April 1, 2021 (incorporated under CoRs iv) Retirement Advisers issued on March 30, 2021) as per following slab structure of AUM managed by the PFs: Certificate of Registrations were issued after evaluation of applications as per eligibility Table No. 3.5: Investment Management Fee criteria defined in PFRDA (Retirement w.e.f. April 1, 2021 Adviser) Regulations, 2016 and subsequent amendments. Slabs of AUM Maximum Investment During the FY 2020-21, 19 Individual Management Fee Retirement Advisors & 2 other than Upto 10,000 Cr. 0.09%* Individual Retirement Advisors were 10,001 – 50,000 Cr. 0.06% registered under the NPS architecture. To expedite the registration process, online 50,001 – 1,50,000 Cr. 0.05% platform for registration is available where Above 1,50,000 Cr. 0.03% applicants can apply online. *UTI RSL to charge 0.07% under this slab. v) Central Recordkeeping Agency The IMF to be charged by the Pension Fund on the Amendment, notification and dissemination slab structure would be on the aggregate AUM of amendment to Regulations of the Pension Fund under all schemes managed Pension Fund Regulatory and Development by Pension Funds and to be calculated upto four Authority (Central Record Keeping Agency) decimal points and truncated thereof. These (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2020 rates of IMF shall be reviewed by the Authority issued to set standards for the eligibility, in a period of five (5) years from the date of governance, organization and operational implementation. conduct of the CRA and for providing The above rates of investment management fee centralized recordkeeping, administration are exclusive of brokerage, custodian fee and and customer service functions to all applicable taxes thereon, subject to maximum subscribers. brokerage allowed to be charged to the scheme by Extension to the tenure of registration of the Pension Funds @ 0.03% (including applicable M/s NSDL E-Governance Infrastructure taxes on brokerage) on equity transactions only. Ltd as Central Recordkeeping Agency for All other costs shall be borne by the pension fund a further period of one year from April 01, and shall not be reimbursed or charged to the 2020 till March 31, 2021 or the date of grant scheme by the Pension Fund. of registration certificate under the first amendment to PFRDA (CRA) Regulations, Clarification of Change in Investment 2015 and amendments there under, Guidelines: whichever is earlier. i. Investment in securities having residual Recently, Computer Age Management maturity of three years shall be done as per Services Ltd. (CAMS) has been granted earlier guidelines/norms Certificate of Registration under PFRDA ii. All fresh issuance of the GOI-Fully Serviced (Central Record Keeping Agency) Bonds post 16.07.2020 shall be classified Regulations, 2015. However, as on March under ‘Government Securities and Related 31, 2021 CRA-CAMS is yet to commence its Investments’/Asset Class ‘G’ operations.. Letter issued to Birla Sun Life Pension 43PART III vi) Trustee Bank 3.2 Approval of schemes, the terms and No regulatory changes were introduced. conditions thereof including norms for the However, timely collection of annual fee management of corpus of the pension funds and and compliance certificate was ensured. investment guidelines under such schemes The details of schemes administered by the vii) NPS Trust Authority may be referred in Part II of the report. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (National Pension System Trust) The allocation of funds for incremental (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2020 subscriptions under existing Central Government issued to amend the governance of a Trustee Scheme as a default scheme under NPS as per of the Board of Trustees of the National Notification F. No. 1/3/2016-PR dated 31.01.2019 Pension System Trust. issued by DFS and existing State Government During the FY 2020-21, two trustees were scheme/default scheme, for both existing as well appointed as per details given below: as new Government subscribers under Central Ms. Chitra Jayasimha, appointed on Govt. and State Govt. Sectors, for the FY 2020-21 December 18, 2020. was distributed among the pension funds. Mr. Y. Venkata Rao, appointed on December Further under Central Government and 22, 2020. Central Autonomous Bodies, the Assets under viii) Exit and Annuity Service Providers (ASPs): Management for the FY 2020-21 have been a. Amendment, notification and allocated to SBI Pension Fund Pvt. Ltd, UTI dissemination of amendment to Retirement Solution Ltd. and LIC Pension Fund Regulations Ltd. in the ratio 38:32:30 (w.e.f. June 29, 2020), Pension Fund Regulatory and while earlier this ratio of allocation was 34:33:33 Development Authority (Exits and for SBI Pension Fund Pvt. Ltd, UTI Retirement Withdrawals Under the National Solution Ltd. and LIC Pension Fund Ltd. Pension System) (Amendment) For the scheme applicable to State Government Regulations, 2020 issued to facilitate employees and employees of State Autonomous ease of exit from NPS. bodies, the Assets under Management for the b. Empanelment of new Annuity Service FY 2020-21 have been allocated to SBI Pension Providers Fund Pvt. Ltd, UTI Retirement Solution Ltd. and i. Aditya Birla Sun Life Insurance LIC Pension Fund Ltd. in the ratio of 38.5:32:29.5 Company Ltd. respectively (w.e.f. June 29, 2020), while earlier this ratio of allocation was 34:33.5:32.5 for SBI ii. PNB MetLife India Insurance Co. Pension Fund Pvt. Ltd, UTI Retirement Solution Ltd Ltd. and LIC Pension Fund Ltd. c. Renewal of Empanelment of Annuity Service Providers 3.3 Exit of subscribers from the National Pension System i. Life Insurance Corporation of India, 3.3.1 As per PFRDA (Exits & Withdrawals ii. SBI Life Insurance Company under NPS) Regulations 2015 and amendments Limited, thereto, following Withdrawal categories are allowed: iii. HDFC Life Insurance Co. Ltd (i) Exit of subscribers from the National Pension iv. Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance System Co. Ltd, As per PFRDA (Exits & Withdrawals under v. ICICI Prudential Life Insurance NPS) Regulations 2015, following Withdrawal Company Ltd categories are applicable: 44Annual Report | 2020-21 Table No. 3.6 : PFRDA (Exits & Withdrawals under NPS) Regulations 2015 and amendments S. Withdrawal Conditions in Government Sector Conditions in Non- Government Sector No. Categories 1 Upon At least 40 per cent of the accumulated Same as Government Sector Normal pension wealth of the Subscriber has to be Super- utilized for purchase of an Annuity providing annuation for monthly pension to the Subscriber and the balance is paid as lump sum to the Subscriber. If the accumulated pension wealth in the PRAN is equal to or less than 2 lakh, the subscriber shall have the option to withdraw the entire accumulated pension wealth without purchasing annuity. However, there is slight change Exit guidelines notified vide 14th June 2021, wherein, there is revision of the accumulated pension wealth in the Permanent Retirement Account of the subscriber is equal to or less than a sum of five lakh rupees, or a limit as specified by the Authority. 2 Upon Death At least 80 per cent of the accumulated If subscriber before attaining the age of pension wealth of the Subscriber has to be 60 years or superannuation dies, then the utilized for purchase of an Annuity providing entire accumulated pension wealth of the for monthly pension to the Spouse and the subscriber shall be paid to the nominee or balance is paid as lump sum to the nominee/ nominees or legal heirs. legal heir. The nominee or family members of the If the accumulated pension wealth in the deceased subscriber shall have the option PRAN at the time of his death is equal to or to purchase any of the annuities being less than 2 lakh, the nominee or legal heirs offered upon exit, if they so desire. as shall have the option to withdraw the entire accumulated pension wealth without purchasing annuity. However, there is slight change Exit guidelines notified vide 14th June 2021, wherein, there is revision of the accumulated pension wealth in the Permanent Retirement Account of the subscriber is equal to or less than a sum of five lakh rupees, or a limit as specified by the Authority. 3 Pre-mature At least 80 per cent of the accumulated The option so exercised shall be allowed Exit pension wealth of the Subscriber has to be only upon such subscriber having utilized for purchase of an Annuity providing subscribed to the national pension system the monthly pension to the Subscriber and for at least a minimum period of ten years. the balance is paid as a lump sum to the At least 80 per cent of the accumulated Subscriber. pension wealth of the Subscriber has to If the accumulated pension wealth in the be utilized for purchase of an Annuity PRAN is equal to or less than 1 lakh, such providing the monthly pension to the subscriber shall have the option to withdraw Subscriber and the balance is paid as a the entire accumulated pension wealth lump sum to the Subscriber. without purchasing any annuity. 45PART III S. Withdrawal Conditions in Government Sector Conditions in Non- Government Sector No. Categories However, there is slight change in Exit guidelines notified on June 14, 2021, wherein, there is revision of the accumulated pension wealth in the Permanent Retirement Account of the subscriber is equal to or less than a sum of two lakh fifty thousand rupees, or a limit as specified by the Authority. However, there is slight change in Exit If the accumulated pension wealth in guidelines notified on June 14, 2021, wherein, the PRAN is equal to or less than 1 lakh, there is revision of the accumulated pension such subscriber shall have the option to wealth in the Permanent Retirement Account withdraw the entire accumulated pension of the subscriber is equal to or less than a sum wealth without purchasing any annuity. of two lakh fifty thousand rupees, or a limit However, there is slight change in as specified by the Authority. Exit guidelines notified on June 14, If the accumulated pension wealth in the 2021, wherein, there is revision of the PRAN is equal to or less than 1 lakh, such accumulated pension wealth in the subscriber shall have the option to withdraw Permanent Retirement Account of the the entire accumulated pension wealth subscriber is equal to or less than a sum of without purchasing any annuity. two lakh fifty thousand rupees, or a limit as specified by the Authority. The option so exercised shall be allowed only upon such subscriber having subscribed to the national pension system for at least a minimum period of ten years. At least 80 per cent of the accumulated pension wealth of the Subscriber has to be utilized for purchase of an Annuity providing the monthly pension to the Subscriber and the balance is paid as a lump sum to the Subscriber. However, there is slight change in Exit guidelines notified on June 14, 2021, wherein, there is revision of the accumulated pension wealth in the Permanent Retirement Account of the subscriber is equal to or less than a sum of two lakh fifty thousand rupees, or a limit as specified by the Authority. In addition, Subscriber can decide to remain defer only lump sum Withdrawal, defer invested in NPS (Up to 70 years) or can exit from only Annuity or defer both lump sum as NPS. Following options are available to NPS well as Annuity. Subscribers: • Start your Pension: If Subscriber does not wish to continue/defer NPS account, he/ • Continuation of NPS account: Subscriber she can exit from NPS. He/she can initiate can continue to contribute to NPS account exit request online and as per NPS exit beyond Retirement (Up to 70 years) and avail guidelines start receiving pension. additional tax benefit on the contribution. One can watch video on Continuation & • Deferment of Withdrawal: Subscriber can Deferment process available on our dedicated defer his/her Withdrawal and stay invested YouTube channel “NSDL - NPS Ki Pathshala” in NPS up to 70 years of age. Subscriber can 46Annual Report | 2020-21 at https://bit.ly/2ZLzTkB and on “Online (i) Government sector, (ii) All citizens Withdrawal Processing by Subscriber” at including Corporate sector and (iii) NPS Lite https://bit.ly/2vyuhfK subscribers. The exit regulations specified shall For the purpose of exit from the NPS, the apply accordingly to the category to which the subscribers are categorized and defined as: subscribers belong to. Table No. 3.7: No. of Withdrawal Reported, Accepted and Settled during April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021 S. Sector Online Withdrawal Physical Withdrawal No. Reported * Accepted $ Settled Reported # Accepted Settled ** 1 Central Government 6,402 5,968 5,923 28 28 28 2 State Government 21,634 19,217 19,117 3 3 3 3 AllCitizen/UoS 6,723 6,206 5,670 - - - 4 Corporate 3,380 3,077 2,443 - - - 5 NPS Lite 34,189 33,874 33,773 - - - Total 72,328 68,342 66,926 31 31 31 (Source : NSDL – CRA & Kfin Technologies h-CRA) Note: * Online Withdrawal: Reported implies the cases authorized by Nodal Office and pending for authorization by Nodal Office. $ Online Withdrawal: Accepted implies the cases where Nodal Office has authorized the withdrawal request in CRA system. # Physical Withdrawal: Reported implies the cases where CRA has received the physical withdrawal requests from Nodal Office/Subscriber till April 30, 2016. ** Physical Withdrawal: Accepted implies the cases which were On Hold at CRA and for which necessary documents received from Nodal Office/Subscriber. Table No. 3.8: Withdrawal claims outstanding as on March 31, 2020 & March 31, 2021. S. No. Sector Physical Withdrawal Pending Online Withdrawal Pending As on March As on March As on March As on March 31, 2020 31, 2021 31, 2020 31, 2021 1 Central Government - - 408 434 2 State Government - - 1,689 2,417 3 UOS - - 446 517 4 Corporate - - 189 303 5 NPS Lite - - 190 315 Total - - 2,922 3,986 (Source : NSDL – CRA & Kfin Technologies -CRA) Note: Physical Withdrawal: Withdrawal claims outstanding at the end of the year are the cases where Subscriber/Nodal Office is yet to submit necessary documents to CRA. Online Withdrawal: Withdrawal claims outstanding at end of the year are the cases where Nodal Office is yet to authorize the withdrawal request in CRA system. It has been observed that in majority of the cases the withdrawal applications pending for processing is due to missing/ inadequate documents submitted by the subscribers or the Nodal Offices. 47PART III 3.3.2 Partial Withdrawal under NPS ix. Stroke; 1. NPS subscribers can do partial withdrawals, x. Myocardial Infarction not exceeding 25 per cent of the contribution xi. Coma; made by the subscriber, excluding contribution xii. Total blindness; made by employer, if any, at any time before exit xiii. Paralysis; from National Pension System subject to the terms and conditions, purpose, frequency and limits xiv. Accident of serious/ life specified below: threatening nature. (a) Purpose: A subscriber on the date of xv. any other critical illness of a life- submission of the withdrawal form, shall threatening nature as stipulated be permitted to withdraw not exceeding in the circulars, guidelines twenty-five per cent of the contributions or notifications issued by the made by such subscriber to his individual Authority from time to time. pension account, for any of the following Recently Covid-19 has been purposes only:- included under this category. (i) for Higher education of his or her xvi. to meet medical and incidental children including a legally adopted expenses arising out of the child; disability or incapacitation (ii) for the marriage of his or her children, suffered by the subscriber. including a legally adopted child; xvii. Towards meeting the expenses by (iii) for the purchase or construction of a subscriber for skill development/ residential house or flat in his or her re-skilling or for any other self- own name or in a joint name with his development activities, as may or her legally wedded spouse. In case, be permitted by the Authority the subscriber already owns either by issuance of appropriate individually or in the joint name a guidelines, in that behalf. residential house or flat, other than xviii. Towards meeting the expenses ancestral property, no withdrawal by subscriber for establishment under these regulations shall be of own venture or any start- permitted; ups, as may be permitted by (iv) for treatment of specified illnesses: the Authority by issuance of if the subscriber, his legally wedded appropriate guidelines, in that spouse, children, including a legally behalf. adopted child or dependent parents (b) Limits: the permitted withdrawal shall suffer from any specified illness, which be allowed only if the following eligibility shall comprise of hospitalization and criteria and limit for availing the benefit are treatment in respect of the following complied-with, by the subscribers: diseases: (a) the subscriber shall have been in the i. Cancer; National Pension System at least for a ii. Kidney Failure (End Stage Renal period of three years from the date of Failure); his or her joining; iii. Primary Pulmonary Arterial (b) the subscriber shall be permitted Hypertension; to withdraw accumulations not iv. Multiple Sclerosis; exceeding twenty- five per cent of the v. Major Organ Transplant; contributions made by him or her and standing to his or her credit in his or vi. Coronary Artery Bypass Graft; her individual pension account, as on vii. Aorta Graft Surgery; the date of application for withdrawal; viii. Heart Valve Surgery; 48Annual Report | 2020-21 (c) Frequency: the subscriber shall be System Trust, as may be specified, for allowed to withdraw only a maximum processing of such withdrawal claim of three times during the entire tenure through their nodal office. Provided of subscription under the National that where a subscriber is suffering Pension System. The request for from any illness, specified in sub- withdrawal shall be submitted by clause (d), the request for withdrawal the subscriber, along with relevant may be submitted, through any family documents to the central recordkeeping member of such subscriber. agency or the National Pension Table No. 3.9: No. of Partial Withdrawal Cases Reported and Settled during the period FY 2020-21 Partial Withdrawal S. No. Sector Reported * Settled** Initiated by Nodal Office # Approved by Nodal Office 1 Central Government 10,979 9,295 9,243 2 State Government 39,049 35,438 35,314 3 UOS 1073 362 358 4 Corporate 2313 1082 1076 Total 53,414 46,177 45,991 (Source : NSDL – CRA & Kfin Technologies -CRA) Note: * Reported cases includes authorized by Nodal Office and pending for authorization by Nodal Office. **Settled cases are where funds have been transferred to subscriber's bank account # Cases Initiated by Subscriber is also added in Initiated by Nodal Office. Table No. 3.10: Reason wise of Partial withdrawal cases reported & Settled during the period from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 Initiated by Nodal Approved by Nodal Settled Office Office Reason for Withdrawal No of No of No of No of No of No of request request For request request For request request For Covid -19 Covid -19 Covid -19 for Higher education of children 2,595 - 2,019 - 2,011 - including a legally adopted child for the marriage of children, including a 6,597 - 5,935 - 5,906 - legally adopted child for the purchase or construction of a 29,239 - 25,128 - 25,021 - residential house for treatment of specified illness 10,765 690 9,995 545 9,961 534 To meet medical & incidental expenses 3,378 - 2,773 - 2,768 - due to disability/incapacitation For skill development/re-skilling or any 704 - 297 - 294 - other self-development activities For establishment of own venture or any 136 - 30 - 30 - start-up Total 53,414 690 46,177 545 45,991 534 49PART III 2. Details of Annuity Service Providers (ASPs) and iii) ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Annuity Schemes opted by subscribers iv) HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd Annuity provides for a monthly payment of v) Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd pension against deposit of a lump sum amount. vi) Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Co. Ltd The subscriber has to mandatorily purchase the vii) India First Life Insurance Co. Ltd annuity as specified in the exit rules of NPS, from viii) Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance Co. Ltd a PFRDA empaneled Annuity Service Providers. ix) Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Annuity Service Providers are Insurance x) Canara HSBC Oriental bank of Commerce Regulatory and Development Authority of India Life Insurance Co. Ltd. (IRDAI) licensed and regulated life insurance xi) Tata AIA Life Insurance Co. Limited companies, transacting annuity business in India xii) Max Life Insurance Co. Limited and are empaneled by PFRDA for servicing the Under National Pension System (NPS), the annuity requirements of the NPS subscribers. subscriber has the option to choose the type Presently, the following 12 ASPs are empaneled of Annuity and the ASPs. The subscriber may with PFRDA to provide annuity services to NPS choose the annuity type/scheme basing on his subscribers: requirements from the available schemes offered i) Life Insurance Corporation of India by the respective ASPs. ii) SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Table No. 3.11: Online Annuity requests processed during April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021 S. Annuity Service Providers/Annuity Schemes No. of Amount No. Cases Transferred (Rs. In crore) 1 Annuity for life 2722 91.02 2 Annuity for life with return of purchase price on death 7310 292.94 3 Annuity payable for life with 100 per cent annuity payable to 3628 136.00 spouse on death of annuitant 4 Annuity payable for life with 100 per cent annuity payable to 3319 264.22 spouse on death of annuitant with return on purchase of annuity 5 Life Annuity with Return of Premium/Purchase Price in parts 22 0.49 6 Life Annuity with Return of Premium/Purchase Price on 49 2.85 diagnosis of Critical Illness 7 NPS - Family Income Option 3342 162.83 Total 20,392 950.45 (Source : NSDL – CRA & Kfin Technologies -CRA) 2021 and for the retiring Subscribers of ii) Digital initiatives rolled out by PFRDA Maharashtra on February 25, 2021 which which can be consumed by the Subscriber either was attended by 230 and 560 subscribers mobile or through Internet respectively and presentation was given a. e- Annuity Literacy Programs (ALPs) by PFRDA, CRAs and Annuity Service For creating awareness on Annuity among Providers (ASPs). retiring NPS Subscribers. The program held b. Online Pension Calculator jointly with Annuity Service Providers and CRAs. ALPs held for 3 different states in the The pension calculator illustrates the country. eALP has been held through online tentative pension and lump sum amount mode for subscribers based in Andhra an NPS subscriber may expect on maturity Pradesh and Telangana on February 12, or 60 years of age based on regular 50Annual Report | 2020-21 monthly contributions, percentage of iv. Exit Authorization code (EA Code). corpus reinvested for purchasing annuity Facilitate the Subscribers to verify and assumed rate in respect of returns on mobile number at the time of exit and investment and annuity selected for. It is improves the contact ability. Ensures available in NPS Trust website. ease of annuity processing by ASPs. Link for pension calculator: http://www. Table No. 3.12: Overall summary of npstrust.org.in/content/pension-calculator functionalities released by PFRDA in 2020 -21 https://cra-nsdl.com/CRAOnline/ aspQuote.html Name of the Functionality No. of requests https://nps.kfintech.com/npc/ processed in c. Special Measures during Covid-19 FY 2020 -2021 i. Online Withdrawal process Online Withdrawal process 11,805 The relaxation was given to nodal based on scanned documents offices/POPs for accepting the Partial Withdrawal cases 531 scanned /self-certified images of exit (along with total amount) documents through digital means to (Amount: allowed for Covid-19 related process the withdrawal request of NPS. Rs. 4.43 crore) medical treatment Subscribers can submit the documents digitally instead of physical mode. Online e-NPS exit 1,099 ii. Partial Withdrawal allowed for Partial withdrawal (overall) 46,163 Covid-19 related medical treatment Online exit process for NPS 2,875 Partial withdrawal guidelines Subscribers associated with modified to include Covid related POPs (Corporate) ailments. d. Online Exit/Withdrawals Online exit process for NPS 4,839 Subscribers associated with i. Ease of Annuity issuance for NPS POPs (UOS) subscribers on single KYC. KYC and Withdrawal documents (Source : NSDL CRA & Kfin Technologies CRA) uploaded by nodal officers suffice 3. Digital Initiatives – Work in progress at to issue annuity by Annuity Service PFRA and in the process of roll out Providers (ASP). The process was finalized by PFRDA in co-ordination a. Video based Customer Identification with IRDAI and ASPs. Process (VCIP) for remote onboarding and exit. ii. Instant Online Bank Account verification PFRDA has permitted its registered intermediaries to use video-based As part of additional due diligence, customer identification process (VCIP) instant Bank Account verification for the purpose on onboarding, exit or through Penny drop introduced to any other service request related to avoid return of funds and check the NPS. It will overcome the challenges beneficiary details on real time basis. of remote presence, limited mobility, The process makes the exit seamless contactless service, social distancing and avoids delays. norms etc and also optimize the turn- iii. e-NPS Subscribers exit around time of account opening, The online e-NPS exit functionality execution of exit and other service built in coordination with Banks. request. It provides the opportunity Functionalities rolled out on for expanding reach of NPS since November 30, 2020. 51PART III account opening process is paperless, e. Online exit process for NPS Subscribers instantaneous, convenient and cost associated with POPs. effective. Under this process, subscribers can b. Offline Aadhaar based online exit. upload the withdrawal documents Expediting the process of exit by along with KYC and authorize using using offline Aadhaar. This will make eSign/OTP. This paperless process process of exit Seamless, paperless and of exit helps in timely processing also time bound processing of exit. of claims and issue of annuity. For processing of exit, the subscriber has c. Online Partial Withdrawal to pay 0.0125 per cent with minimum Ease of partial withdrawal process amount of Rs 125 and maximum up to on self-declaration basis and making Rs. 500 of their corpus to the POPs. the process online along with penny drop. Reduces the Turnaround time 3.4 Activities undertaken for protection for processing partial withdrawal. of interests of subscribers under the National d. Online Smart Exit Guide Pension System and of other pension schemes under the Act It helps subscribers to get Annuity quotes with/without return of One of the major aims of PFRDA is protection purchase price. Subscribers can take of subscribers’ interest and PFRDA has been well informed decision while selecting engaged in multifarious activities in furtherance annuity schemes offered by various of this cause. ASPs. Table No. 3.13: Measures taken to protect subscribers’ interest S. No. Initiative Benefits 1. Offline Aadhar KYC for Ease on on-boarding and instant PRAN generation On-boarding 2. ePRAN card for NPS Now the Subscribers have to pay less for Account opening Subscribers and it is easy to handle. 3. OTP based authentication by Paperless on boarding of subscribers. Subscribers. 4. Online Aadhaar e-KYC PFRDA's proposal approved by UIDAI to offer online e-KYC verification to one of the CRAs. 5. D-Remit (Direct Remittance) Same day NAV and Facility of auto debit to NPS Subscribers. Delay in processing the contribution is cut down by two days. 6. NACH based debit Automated debit through NACH e-mandate introduced on pilot basis. The process initiated in FY 2020-21 and would be rolled out in FY 2021-22. 7. E-nomination facility Online nomination/ updation of nominees in a paperless through e sign manner 8. Ombudsman for NPS/APY FAQ published for the benefit of Subscribers and wide awareness created about the services of Ombudsman. 52Annual Report | 2020-21 S. No. Initiative Benefits 9. Annuity Literacy Programs For creating awareness on Annuity among retiring NPS (ALPs) Subscribers. The programs held jointly with Annuity Service Providers, Nodal Officers of Govt and CRAs. 10. Annuity Calculator Revamped Annuity Calculator for better transmission of annuity rates/ information to NPS Subscribers. 11. Compliance certificate for Half yearly compliance certificate being submitted by ASPs ASPs for enhanced Subscribers service. 12. NPS Tax Saver account Enables tax saving by subscribers of Central Government Sector. 13. Choice of Investment and Government sector subscribers can exercise choice of PFs investment and select PFs. 14. OTP based Authentication To alleviate the difficulties of NPS Subscribers who have for legacy NPS accounts opened their NPS Accounts during Covid-19 pandemic induced lock down but could not submit physical applications to CRA. 15. Withdrawal process The relaxation was given to nodal offices/POPs for accepting the scanned /self-certified images of exit documents through digital means to process the withdrawal request of NPS. 16. Partial Withdrawal allowed Partial withdrawal guidelines modified to include covid for covid related treatment related ailments. 17. Continuation of PRAN in Option for partly exited NPS Subscribers to continue the case of premature exit where same PRAN. only lump sum is paid 18. Ease Annuity issuance for KYC and Withdrawal documents uploaded by nodal NPS subscribers on single officers suffice to issue annuity by Annuity Service KYC. Providers (ASP). 19. Instant Bank Account Instant Bank Account verification through Penny drop to verification avoid return of funds and check the beneficiary details on real time basis. 20. e-NPS Subscribers exit The online e-NPS exit functionality built in coordination with Banks 21. Exit Authorization code (EA Facilitate the Subscribers to verify mobile number at the Code) time of exit. 53PART III 3.5 Mechanism for Redressal of Grievances and register complaint through Customer of Subscribers and Activities undertaken for Care Executive. Redressal of such Grievances After successful logging of the grievance, a token A subscriber can lodge grievance against the number will be generated by the CRA system with employer (Nodal Office) /CRA through the the help of which a subscriber can track the status Grievance Redressal Mechanism established by of grievance on CRA website. The grievance is CRA under NPS. The grievance can be escalated then resolved by the intermediary in 30 days. If to NPS Trust. The procedure for raising grievance the complainant is not satisfied with the redressal is given below: of his grievance or if it has not been resolved (i) Online Grievance Registration - A by the intermediary by the end of thirty days subscriber can log grievances in Central of filing of complaint, he/she may escalate the Grievance Management System (CGMS) complaint to the National Pension System Trust. by login to CRA website www.cransdl. The National Pension System Trust shall follow com, authenticate himself by using User ID up the grievance with the concerned intermediary - 'PRAN' and I-PIN (provided at the time for redressal of the subscriber grievance. National of PRAN generation) or by clicking on the Pension System Trust shall call for the resolution link (https://www.npscra.nsdl.co.in/Log- of the subscriber grievance and respond to the your-grievance.php) with or without PRAN subscriber within 30 days from the date of receipt details. of the grievance. (ii) CRA Helpline – A subscriber can call at The following data of grievances collected from toll-free number 1800 222 080, authenticate CRAs (NSDL CRA & KFintech CRA) received at himself through the 'PRAN' and 'T-PIN' CRA for the FY 2020 – 21: (provided at the time of PRAN generation) Table No. 3.14: Query/Grievance (referral) against CRA Status of referrals for the month for FY 2020 -21 Referral Raised Pending at the Received during Closed/resolved Pending the end Against end of the during the of March 2020 FY 2020 - 2021 FY 2020 - 2021 March 2021 CRA 1,941 1,13,916 1,14,820 1,037 (Source : CRA- NSDL CRA & CRA- Kfin Technologies) A total of 1,13,916 referrals received during the FY referrals pending at both the CRAs, 936 referrals 2020 -2021. Out of these referrals, 103,472 had been are pending with NSDL – CRA and 101 is pending received at NSDL - CRA and 10,444 referrals had with Kfin Technologies. been received at Kfin Technologies. Out of 1037 54Annual Report | 2020-21 Table No. 3.15: Status of Query/Grievance (referrals) Category wise against CRA Referral Category Cases pending Cases Cases resolved Cases pending at end of the received during the FY for resolution March 2020 during the FY 2020 - 2021 at end of March 2020 - 2021 2021 General Query 950 64,790 65,236 504 PRAN Card Related 486 22,274 22,485 275 SOT Related 114 5,759 5,821 52 Tier II related 135 4,506 4,601 40 Incorrect Processing of 78 5,041 5,082 37 Subscriber Details I-PIN, T-PIN Related 22 2,662 2,650 34 Withdrawal Related 56 2,823 2,851 28 Email/SMS alerts not 35 2,178 2,193 20 received Exit not initiated / not 11 1,215 1,206 20 authorised / amount not received Partial withdrawal not 43 1,749 1,775 17 initiated / not authorised / amount not received Other Grievances 1 65 63 3 Death withdrawal not 2 167 167 2 initiated / not authorised / amount not received Not Processed/Delay in 3 123 124 2 Processing Subscriber Changes Request Delays in Issuance of - 109 107 2 PRAN Cards Pre-mature withdrawal 5 442 446 1 not initiated / not authorised / amount not received Contribution amount not - 13 13 - reflected in account Total 1,941 1,13,916 1,14,820 1,037 (Source : NSDL CRA & Kfin Technologies CRA) 55PART III Table No. 3.16: Ageing of referrals pending for the month ending March 31, 2021 Sector < 7 days 8-14 days 15-30 days 31-60 days > 60 days Total Central Government 56 - 1 - - 57 State Government 55 1 - - - 56 Corporate 109 1 - - - 110 Unorganized 736 9 - - 1 746 NPS Lite 13 - 3 - - 16 APY 51 1 - - - 52 Total 1,020 12 4 - 1 1,037 (Source : NSDL CRA & Kfin Technologies CRA) After the above two levels of grievance resolution against any other pension scheme regulated have been exhausted by the subscriber, the third by the Authority, whose grievance remains level of escalation he/she can file an appeal is with unresolved for a period of 30 days. the Ombudsman. An appeal may be filed with the At present, Shri Arnab Roy is appointed as the Ombudsman by a complainant in the following Stipendiary Ombudsman in terms of PFRDA circumstances: where (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) Regulations, 2015. (i) a complainant whose grievance has not been resolved within 30 days from the escalation Address: of the grievance by filing a representation C/o Pension Fund Regulatory and Development with the National Pension System Trust or Authority (ii) by a complainant, where a complaint has been Plot No - B - 14/A, made directly against the National Pension Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhawan, System Trust and no other intermediary and Qutab Institutional Area, the same remains unresolved within the Katwaria Sarai, specified period of thirty days; or New Delhi - 110016. (iii) by a complainant, in relation to a complaint Email id: ombudsman@pfrda.org.in 3.5.1 No. of Complaints Received, Resolved and Pending for FY 2020-21 at the Office of Ombudsman Table No. 3.17: No. of Complaints Received, Resolved and Pending for FY 2020-21 at the Office of Ombudsman S No. Sector* CG/CAB SG/SAB UOS No. of pending complaints as 4 3 2 on end of FY 2019-20 No. of Complaints received 4 6 7 No. of Complaints Resolved 6 6 8 No. of Complaints pending 2 3 1 Note: * for other sectors viz. NPS – Lite, Swavalamban & APY, no appeals had been received for FY 2020 - 21. 56Annual Report | 2020-21 3.5.2 State-wise Complaints Received for 3.5.3 Initiatives taken by PFRDA FY 2020-21 at the Office of Ombudsman (i) Development of online system for filing Table No. 3.18: State-Wise Complaints appeal with ombudsman received for FY 2020 – 21 Currently, the appeals are received at the office of S No. Name of State No. of Grievance received the Ombudsman in the physical form. An online state-wise process for filing appeal with ombudsman by 1 Karnataka 2 developing a web portal in the website of PFRDA 2 Maharashtra 2 where the aggrieved subscriber whose grievance not resolved after specified time with respective 3 Telangana 2 intermediary can prefer appeal online as an option 4 Tamil Nadu 2 is under development. 5 Uttar Pradesh 2 6 Andaman 1 (ii) Release of FAQs on Ombudsman Nicobar Islands PFRDA had released a FAQ on appeal process 7 Andhra Pradesh 1 with Ombudsman for the creation of awareness 8 Bihar 1 among the Subscribers. The same is available on 9 Delhi 1 PFRDA website. 10 Haryana 1 The status of grievances received during the year 11 Himachal Pradesh 1 at CGMS as on March 31, 2021 is furnished in the 12 Punjab 1 table below: Total 17 Table No. 3.19: Grievances Pending, Received and Closed in CGMS from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. S. No Sector Pending Received Resolved Pending As on Till Till percentage March 31, March 31, March 31, till March 31, 2020 2021 2021 2021 1 NPS Regular# 1,575 46,502 46,433 3.54 2 NPS Lite 13 970 826 19.01 3 APY 311 31,662 31,326 2.07 Total 1,899 79,134 78,585 3.12 Source: As per CRAs Note: # NPS Regular consists of CG/SG/SAB/CAB/ Corporate and All Citizen Sector 57PART III The status of Grievances received to various March 31, 2021 is furnished in the table below: intermediaries during the year at CGMS as on Table No. 3.20: Grievances Pending, Received and Closed in different sectors in CGMS during April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. S. Referrals Raised Pending as Received till Resolved till Pending as No. Against on March 31, March 31, March 31, on March 31, 2020 2021 2021 2021 1 Central Government 550 3,282 3,331 501 2 State Government 478 5,104 5,086 496 3 POP 483 26,034 26,050 467 4 Corporate 0 15 14 1 5 Trustee Bank 201 35 36 200 6 NPS Lite 13 970 826 157 7 APY (APY-SP) 311 31,662 31,326 647 8 eNPS 482 23,826 23,913 395 9 CRA 1,989 1,22,949 1,24,064 874 10 NPS Trust 28 1,859 1,583 304 Total 4,535 2,15,736 2,16,229 4,042 Source: CRAs The major grievances received are related to assets under NPS and choosing PFMs. The scope of Statement of Transactions , Contribution amount work and responsibility of the Retirement Adviser not reflected in account, PRAN Card , incorrect is to ensure orderly growth of pension sector. processing of subscriber details, delays in PFRDA is providing registration to individuals uploading of contribution amounts etc. Grievances as Retirement Adviser as per PFRDA (Retirement are registered in CGMS by the subscriber and are Adviser) Regulations 2016. PFRDA has accredited directly routed to concerned intermediaries for National Institute of Securities Market (NISM) as necessary action. Thus, it is for the concerned institute for certification of Retirement Adviser intermediaries to resolve and close grievance in the Certification Examination. Upto March 31, 2021, CGMS which are raised against them. The periodic total 743 candidates were certified as Retirement reminders are sent to concerned intermediary for Adviser. In the FY 2020-21, 11 RAs, in the category resolving and closing grievances in CGMS. of Individual, were registered as fresh, 08 RAs in the category of Individual, were registered 3.6 Certification Programme for Retirement under renewal granted by PFRDA and 02 RAs Advisers Other than Individual category were registered Pension Fund Regulatory and Development as fresh by PFRDA. A quarterly summary of the Authority registers Retirement Advisers (RAs) candidates enrolled, appeared and passed during for widening the coverage of NPS and providing the FY 2020-21 is as under: advisory services to the subscribers for allocating 58Annual Report | 2020-21 Table No. 3.21: Retirement Adviser Certification details NISM Series-XVII: Retirement Adviser Certification Month Enrolled Appeared Passed Apr-June 2020 0 0 0 July – September 2020 26 27 24 Oct – December 2020 69 57 38 Jan – March 2021 88 77 61 Total 183 161 123 PFRDA has hosted the website www. 3.7 Collection of Data by the Authority and pensionsanchay.org.in to spread awareness and the intermediaries including undertaking and educate subscribers and general public on the commissioning of studies, research and project. fundamental elements and concepts related to Collection and compilation of a comprehensive money, financial planning, retirement planning, data based on demographics, retirement savings investment evaluation and annuity. The website and investments, the different financial products/ has a blog section for discussions and sharing of schemes issued by the different organizations information on Behavioural Aspects of Retirement to cater to the old age income security of the Planning, Fundamentals of Money & Finance, underlying subscribers, the returns generated Retirement Planning, Saving & Investing and thereon, the disclosure and protection provided Pension. The blog section has 63 articles of which to the subscribers etc. under different scheme are 14 were hosted during FY 2020-21, and these were the on - going activities of PFRDA. Towards this contributed by writers from across the country, end, PFRDA is compiling information on people to whom an amount of Rs 1000 was paid as covered under various pension schemes and also honorarium from each published article. During people receiving pensions under various schemes. FY 2020-21, the total visitor count to the Pension PFRDA is currently in the process of gathering Sanchay website stood at 1,44,092. information from other pension providers in the country. 3.8 Steps undertaken for educating subscribers and the general public on issues related to PFRDA is also the co-promoter of National Centre pension, retirement savings and related issued for Financial Education (NCFE) along with RBI, and details of training of intermediaries SEBI and IRDAI which was incorporated as a Section 8 (Not for Profit Company) on September 3.8.1 Financial Literacy regarding Pensions: 05, 2018 for promoting financial education across PFRDA as a member of Financial Stability and the country to all sections of the society as per Development Council (FSDC), its sub-committee, the National Strategy for Financial Education of working groups and various inter-regulatory Financial Stability and Development Council. forums viz. Inter Regulatory Technical Group (IR-TG), Technical Group on Financial Inclusion 3.8.2 Programme for co-ordination with and Financial Literacy (TGFIFL), Inter Regulatory financial agencies and other agencies Forum for monitoring Financial Conglomerates (IRF-FC), Working Group on resolution regime PFRDA is promoting National Centre for Financial for financial institutions actively contributes to the Education (NCFE), a Section 8 (Not for Profit) furtherance of the objectives of these committee’s/ Company along with Reserve Bank of India groups/forums. (RBI), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development 59PART III Authority of India (IRDAI). Out of share capital of of financial education in school curriculum for Rs. 100 crore PFRDA has contributed its allocation students of Classes VI to X, has been drafted of Rs. 10 crore while other RBI, SEBI and IRDAI in coordination with all sector regulators. contributed Rs.30 crore each. NCFE’s mission Further, NSFE 2020-25 envisions development of is to undertake massive Financial Education target group specific content for the effective campaign to help people manage money more dissemination of Financial Literacy. MSMEs is effectively to achieve financial well-being by one of such target groups that need financial accessing appropriate financial products and education to make sound financial decisions. services through regulated entities with fair and Thus Financial Education Handbook for Micro, transparent machinery for consumer protection Small and Medium Enterprises MSMEs has and grievance redressal. been developed broadly in line with OECD/ INFE Core Competencies Framework on The objective of the NCFE is to promote Financial Literacy For MSMES and by adopting Financial Education across India for all sections Indian Context. Financial Education Programmes of the population as per the National strategy through this content/Handbook may lead to the for Financial Education, to create financial Financial Knowledge and skills that owners and awareness and empowerment through financial managers of MSMEs or potential entrepreneurs education campaigns across the country for all could benefit from, the behaviors that may help sections of the population through seminars, them to improve the management of their business workshops, conclaves, trainings, programs, finances, as well as personal finances of people campaigns, discussion forums by itself or with working at these places. help of institutions, organisations and to provide training in financial education and create financial Further PFRDA contributed and co-ordinated education material in electronic or non-electronic with NCFE and other regulators to make formats, workbooks, worksheets, literature, Financial Literacy Week (FLW 2021) observed pamphlets, booklets, fliers, technical aids and to from February 8 to February 12, 2021 a successful prepare appropriate financial literature for target one. One of the main activities of FLW 2021 is the based audience on financial markets and financial Series of Five National Level Webinars involving digital modes for improving financial literacy so India's Financial Sector Regulators from February as to improve their knowledge, understanding, 8 to February 12, 2021. During the Financial skills and competence in finance. Literacy Week a webinar on “ Financial Literacy – Heightening Pension Awareness " was addressed APY has been incorporated in the NCFE modules by senior-official of PFRDA . as one of the Government schemes providing minimum guaranteed pension. Further, NPS has In addition to above, the PFRDA actively also been incorporated in the NCFE modules as a participated during the Global Money Week solution to retirement needs. (GMW) which is an annual international financial education awareness-raising campaign designed The National Strategy for Financial Education for to encourage a wide range of stakeholders to India (NSFE: 2020-25) has been finalized by NCFE motivate children and youth to learn about money in discussion with all financial sector regulators matters, livelihoods and entrepreneurship. SEBI for coordinated efforts to support the vision as a national coordinator of the GMW campaign of the Government of India. The objective is to in India and GMW was organized during March develop adequate knowledge, skills, attitudes and 22-28, 2021. PFRDA played an instrumental role behaviors among the common citizen to manage in conducting Quiz Competition during the week their money in a better way and to plan for the and also contributed to the micro-website created future. The Strategy recommends adoption of a for the GMW. During the week, a senior official multi-stakeholder approach to achieve financial of PFRDA addressed the webinar on Financial well-being of Indians. As per the Strategic Goal Education as Guest speaker. under Action Plan of NSFE 2020-25, content 60Annual Report | 2020-21 3.8.3 NPS awareness, Communication and and print media, were adopted by the Authority to Social Media educate and enhance financial & pension literacy and for explaining the features & benefits of NPS/ APY to the public at large especially to citizens falling in the age group of 18-65 years for NPS and 18-40 years for APY. All the media activities PFRDA continued with its unceasing efforts of were undertaken through Bureau of Outreach and creating awareness about pensions and retirement Communication (DAVP) and Prasar Bharti (AIR planning with a vision to make ‘India a Pensioned & Doordarshan) under arrangements. The digital Society’. In this backdrop, various channels or platforms were also deployed to disseminate and mediums of communication viz. social media, sensitize the public about NPS through webinars/ digital domain, electronic media (audio & visual) seminars/online workshops/e-conferences etc. During the FY 2020-21, NPS print campaigns campaign was launched during the India-Australia were undertaken to inform, what is NPS, who Cricket Series 2020-21 through All India Radio can join, benefits to employer, tax incentives (AIR) which had exclusive rights of broadcasting and the print ad designs were inscribed with QR commentary of the match series comprising of 26 code, enabling users to visit the webpages of NPS days in total. A series of TV scroll campaigns were Trust for availing further information on NPS. undertaken for NPS in the third quarter of the The print advertisements were carried out in 155 financial year through DD News & 28 Regional newspapers in Hindi, English and 11 regional Kendras of Doordarshan emphasizing the tax languages with country wide coverage. NPS radio benefits of NPS. Digital/social media campaigns campaigns were launched to inform the general were also undertaken throughout the year with public about the extension of timelines beyond an objective to increase the enrolments by posting March 31, 2020 for making investments (including paid messages in social media platforms like NPS) to save tax for FY 2019-20 through 432 radio Facebook, twitter and LinkedIn, featuring the stations covering pan India. Another NPS radio benefits of subscribing to NPS. 61PART III APY print campaign was undertaken to deliver the activities, APY SMS campaign was also launched message of the 3 unique benefits of APY and the wherein 2.69 cr SMS in 13 languages were advertisements were created not only to provide disseminated in 3 phases to the general public. information about product offerings but also TV scroll campaign for APY was undertaken for encourage potential subscribers to join the scheme two months through DD News & 28 Regional by informing that more than 3 crore subscribers Kendras of Doordarshan to inform viewers about have already joined the scheme. The APY prints APY benefits. During the third and fourth quarter advertisements were released in 210 newspapers of the financial year, 7 social media campaigns across the country. APY radio campaigns were were launched for APY with an objective to create launched in 3 phases through Bureau of Outreach awareness and increase enrolment in the scheme. and Communication (BOC) & Prasar Bharati (All An APY video was also recorded to communicate India Radio) over 338 channels in 11 languages to the benefits of APY through audio-visual medium decipher the message that APY guarantees old age and the video on being uploaded in YouTube has income. To support the radio & print campaigns secured 1.6 lakh views. In order to keep the citizens and subscribers aware handles of PFRDA, radio campaigns undertaken and watchful about the fraudulent activities in 5 languages through 418 FM stations, public inimical to their economic and social well-being, Notices were released at periodic intervals in dissemination of information for prevention of print media covering 355 newspapers, scrolling fraud and phishing in name of PFRDA/NPS were message incorporated in PFRDA website and undertaken by the Authority through postings video messages hosted in Pension Sanchay of text and graphical messages in social media website. 62Annual Report | 2020-21 3.8.4 PFRDA on Social Media Considering the challenges in traditional media 3.8.5 Public Relations Agency and being generally labeled as a one-way PFRDA undertakes various public relations communication to the public at large, the social media platforms provides a multi-pronged activities/communications with an objective to channel of communication and delivery of enhance awareness and disseminate information message to target audience with feedbacks from regarding its policies, activities and schemes the targeted audiences. Social media plays a for promoting old age income security and vital role for outreach and engagement with the protecting subscriber interests. During the FY public and PFRDA in its effort of connecting and 2020-21, PFRDA held 2 press meets, 55 media engaging with subscribers has proactively been interviews/interactions and issued 29 Press maintaining its account with Facebook, Twitter, Releases, communicating the policy changes and LinkedIn, YouTube for NPS and APY. developments for publishing in print, audio, The followership to PFRDA social media handles online and visual media channels, and attained are : APY Facebook page – 72710, NPS Facebook - coverage in 455 newspapers and 561 online news 36606, Twitter- 5464 and during the financial year platforms. Various aspects of retirement planning, 2020-21 a total 649 Facebook post , 743 Tweets and pensions and challenges associated with old age 335 posts on LinkedIn were made, through which income security their solutions were disseminated crucial information and updates were shared through 10 featured articles in print and online with the objective to disseminate policy changes media. and engage the targeted segment/audience. 63PART III 3.8.6 Training training agency conducted a total of 255 online PFRDA had disseminated information on NPS/ training sessions for 12024 participants during the APY through training sessions to more than financial year. Moreover, 13 training programs/ 2.26 lakh participants over the last 5 financial workshops were conducted directly by PFRDA years. The participants to these training sessions notably for; NAHRD, ISTM, CCI, NPC, IFSCA, were imparted knowledge on the salient features ICICI Securities. of NPS/APY, the process of joining the schemes, The appointed training agency Hero Mindmine options available for selection of fund manager, Ltd. during its engagement from August 8, 2018 to asset allocation, annuity plans, procedure for August 7, 2020 had conducted across the country resolution of grievances, etc. Due to covid-19 3,087 training sessions for 1,36,740 participants . pandemic situation prevailing in FY 2020-21, NPS/ The sector wise distribution of participants and APY trainings were imparted only through online training sessions were as under:- mode i.e. video conferencing and the appointed Table No. 3.22: The Sector Wise Distribution of the Number of Training Sessions and Participants under NPS 64 SPN Sectors Training Participants Sessions Count YPA Sectors Training Participants Sessions Count Central Govt. 246 11066 Business 390 16957 Correspond State Govt. 1036 46015 Distt. Co-op 168 7508 Central Banks Central Auto. 35 1669 Dept of Post 200 9138 Bodies State Auto. 67 3074 Public Sector 226 9744 Bodies Bank Corporate 280 12296 Regional Rural 136 6205 Bank Point of 281 12064 Small Finance 22 1004 Presence Bank Total 1945 86184 Total 1142 50556 Presently, 4 training agencies have been conducted by PFRDA etc) and conducting surveys empaneled by PFRDA to address the training for improving the processes and delivery of requirements of various stakeholders viz. Govt. services within the NPS architecture (viz. gauging Sector nodal office, Corporate, Points of Presence awareness of scheme features, quality of training and APY Service Providers. session etc). The NPS Information Helpdesk had received a total of 1.30 lakh inward calls and 3.8.7 NPS and APY Information Helpdesk 4.25 lakh outbound calls were made through the Towards facilitating a human interactive system call centre during the financial year. to existing and potential subscribers for accessing Presently, two toll free numbers of Information and procuring reliable information on NPS and Helpdesk are operational i.e. 1800110708 for NPS APY from across the country, PFRDA is operating and 1800110069 for APY are operational and for a dedicated NPS/APY Information Helpdesk call back services from Helpdesk, an SMS facility wherein queries on NPS/APY are responded in is also available through ‘SMS NPS to 56677’. The a professional and systematic manner. The call NPS/APY Information Desk is operational for 8 centre is also utilized for making outbound call to hours a day (9.30 a.m. – 5.30 p.m.), 7 days a week subscribers as per requirements (viz. persistency (including Sundays) excluding National holidays. of APY contributions, invitations to sessionsAnnual Report | 2020-21 3.9 Conferences, Meetings and Other Pr. AO, Ministry of Personnel, Initiatives under taken during FY 2020-21 Public Grievances and Pensions 3.9.1 Conferences under Central and State Pr. AO, Ministry of Home Affairs Government Sector Defence PCDA (Navy), Mumbai PFRDA engages with the government Nodal CDA (Border Roads), Delhi Offices on various platforms, in order to improve Cantonment the efficiency of NPS in the government sector. In PCDA (Southern Command), pursuance of the same, PFRDA conducts review Pune meetings/ video conferences /Conferences/ PCDA (Western Command), workshops with the Government Nodal offices at Chandigarh the Centre / State /CABs/SABs. ACAS (Accounts and AV), New In light of the prevailing lockdowns on account of Delhi the Covid-19, the review meeting were conducted PCDA (Navy), Mumbai with the nodal offices through an online platform. NCT Pr. AO, Ministry of NCT of Delhi PFRDA conducted review meetings/video Postal General Manager Finance, Postal conferences with Central Ministries and Central Accounts, Delhi Autonomous Bodies (CABs) and with State Govt. and State Autonomous Bodies (SABs). Apart from Railways FA and CAO, Northern Railway, the same, awareness sessions were also conducted New Delhi to make the nodal offices aware of the choices FA and CAO, Central Railway, pension funds and investment patterns available Mumbai to the Government subscribers. FA and CAO, Eastern Railway, Kolkata Following is the list of conference/ workshops/ review meetings conducted during April 1, 2020 FA and CAO, East Central to March 31, 2021 (via online mode). Railway, Hajipur FA and CAO, Southern Railway, Table No. 3.23: List of Conferences held Chennai during FY 2020-21 FA and CAO, Western Railway, Mumbai a. CG & CABs:- FA and CAO, South Central i. CG: Railway, Secunderabad Accounting Ministry/ Office Name FA and CAO, North Central Formation Railway, Allahabad Civil Pr. AO, Ministry of Home Affairs FA and CAO, South Eastern Pr. AO, CBDT, Department of Railway, Kolkata Revenue, Ministry of Finance FA and CAO, North Frontier Pr. AO, CBEC, Department of Railway, Maligaon Revenue, Ministry of Finance FA and CAO, Western Central Pr. AO, Department of Indian Railway, Jabalpur Audit and Accounts FA and CAO, South East Central Pr. AO, Department of Atomic Railway, Bilaspur Energy FA and CAO, North Eastern Pr. AO, Department of Space Railway, Gorakhpur Pr. AO, Andaman and Nicobar FA and CAO, East Coast Railway, Islands Administration Bhubaneswar 65PART III ii. CABs: Pr.AO, Banaras Hindu University, CABs FA and CAO, North Western Varanasi Railway, Jaipur Pr.AO, Prasar Bharati, New Delhi Pr.AO, Kendriya Vidyalaya PrAO, New Delhi Municipal Sangathan, New Delhi Council, New Delhi Pr.AO, Employees State Insurance Pr.AO, Jawaharlal Institute of Post Corporation (HQ), New Delhi Graduate Medical Education & Pr.AO, North Delhi Municipal Research, Pondicherry Corporation, New Delhi Pr.AO, Tata Memorial Centre, Pr.AO, South Delhi Municipal Mumbai Corporation, Delhi Pr.AO, Delhi Development Pr.AO, East Delhi Municipal Authority, New Delhi Corporation, Delhi Pr.AO, Indian Council of Medical Pr. AO, All India Institute of Research, New Delhi Medical Sciences, New Delhi Pr. AO, Bhakra Beas Management Pr.AO, Indian Council of Board, Chandigarh Agricultural Research, New Delhi Pr.AO, Directorate of Defence Pr.AO, Employees Provident Estates Southern Command, Pune Fund Organisation, New Delhi Pr.AO, Directorate of Defence Pr.AO, Council of Scientific & Estates Central Command, Industrial Research, New Delhi Lucknow Pr.AO, Delhi Jal Board, New Delhi Indian Institute Of Technology, Pr.AO, Navodaya Vidyalaya Bombay Samiti, Noida Pr.AO, All India Institute of Pr.AO, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Raipur Medical Education & Research, Pr. AO, Visakhapatnam Port Chandigarh Trust, Visakhapatnam Pr.AO, Aligarh Muslim Pr.AO, National Institute of University, Aligarh Mental Health & Neuro Sciences, Bangalore b. SGs and SABs:- i. SG: East North East North South Central West • Bihar • Assam • Himachal • Andhra • Chhattisgarh • Goa • Jharkhand • Arunachal Pradesh Pradesh • Madhya • Gujarat • Odisha Pradesh • Jammu and • Karnataka Pradesh • Maharashtra • Manipur Kashmir • Kerala • Uttar • Rajasthan • Meghalaya • Chandigarh • Puducherry Pradesh • Mizoram • Haryana • Telangana • Nagaland • Uttarakhand • Tripura • Punjab • Sikkim 66Annual Report | 2020-21 ii. SABs: 3.9.2.2 Advisories and Circulars issued for smooth implementation of NPS SGs SABs of respective SGs with which a. Choice of pension fund & investment pattern in meetings held Tier I of NPS for the Government subscribers Bihar Bihar State Power (Holding) employed with SG SABs CG & CABs - Advising Company Ltd. the opening up and availability of functionality Chhattisgarh Directorate of Public Instruction, for choice of PF and investment pattern in Tier Raipur, Chhattisgarh I for the employees of CAB, SAB and SGs, at Urban Administration and their own volition without concurrent approval Development, Raipur of PsFRDA. Gujarat Surat Municipal Corporation, Surat b. Advisory on Digital Safety Practices to be Haryana Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam followed by Government Nodal offices to Limited, Hisar access CRA system under NPS architecture - Madhya Directorate of Public Instruction, Advising the nodal offices towards adopting Pradesh Madhya Pradesh safety practices in respect of usage, non- Directorate of Urban Administration sharing and safe-keeping of login credentials & Development, Bhopal of the CRA system. c. Ease in issuance of Annuity to NPS Punjab Punjab State Power Corporation Limited, Patiala subscribers - Advising the availability of online based system and functionality for the Rajasthan Directorate of Local Bodies, Jaipur Government nodal offices for expeditious Finance Controller, Basic Shiksha exit/withdrawal processing and issuance of Parishad, Allahabad annuity. Directorate of Education Secondary, Uttar Pradesh d. Nil credit PRANs and Zero balance PRANs Allahabad - Advising the nodal offices towards the Directorate of Higher Education, reasons for and the ways in which Nil credit Allahabad & Zero balance PRANs associated with 3.9.2 Steps initiated for smooth implementation respective nodal offices are to be identified of NPS in Government Sector and subsequently, deactivated and/or regularized. 3.9.2.1 Measures suggested to CG Ministries/ e. Advisory on De-activation of Non-IRA Central Autonomous Bodies/ State Governments PRANs - Advising the nodal offices towards /State Autonomous Bodies for smooth the ways in which Nil credit & Zero balance implementation of NPS PRANs associated with respective nodal a. Nodal offices under CG and SG have been offices are to be deactivated/ regularized. advised to strictly comply with the timelines f. Advisory on Regular NPS contribution - prescribed by DoE for completion of various Advising the Government nodal offices NPS related activities with respect to credit towards following the credit contribution contribution. timelines as advised under the CGA OM b. The oversight offices like PrAOs/DTAs dated September 2, 2008. were advised to review performance of their g. Dashboard updation of contact details of underlying PAOs / DTOs and ensure that Nodal officers - Advising the nodal offices the NPS related activities are completed in a towards updating the contact credentials in time bound manner. the NPS system c. State Governments were advised to h. Deactivation & Regularization of Nil credit consider providing individual choices to PRANs - Advising the nodal offices of the State Government employees-subscriber for Central Autonomous Bodies towards the Pension Fund and Investment pattern under reasons for and the ways in which, Nil credit NPS in reference to gazette notification & Zero balance PRANs associated with dated 31.01.19 issued by DFS. 67PART III respective nodal offices are to be identified 3.9.2.3 Leveraging Technology for efficiency - and subsequently, deactivated and/or Server to Server Integration and OPGM (Online regularized. PRAN Generation Module) i. Transfer of Legacy Funds of NPS Subscribers a. To ensure timely registration of subscriber’s of Government Sectors (SGs/ CABs/ SABs) under NPS, the Government Nodal offices pursuant to opening of choice of investment under CG/SG sector were advised to adopt schemes and Pension Funds - Advising the OPGM (Online PRAN Generation Module) to nodal offices that post moving out of the eliminate delay in PRAN generation as well as default investment pattern by a subscriber rejection of subscriber registration forms. of SGF/SAB/CAB, the legacy accumulated b. To adopt STS (Server to Server) integration corpus available in the PRAN of such of the nodal offices’ financial software subscriber would be transfer to the selected package with CRA system. investment scheme and Pension Fund. c. The Status of adoption of STS by SG Nodal offices is placed under: Table No. 3.24: The Status of adoption of STS / OPGM by State Government. Nodal offices: Particulars State State Governments which Karnataka, Maharashtra, Haryana, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, have adopted STS as on Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Tripura, Bihar, Assam and Punjab March 31, 2021 Particulars State State Governments which Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, UT Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, have adopted OPGM as on Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Haryana, Himachal March 31, 2021 Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu (Only for AIS), West Bengal (Only for AIS) Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand and Telangana a) The Status of adoption of STS by SABs is Table No. 3.26: The Status of adoption of placed under: OPGM by SABs: Table No. 3.25: The Status of adoption of Name of the SG No. of SABs/ SAB STS by SABs: Nssodal offices adopted OPGM State Government No. of SAB Nodal Andhra Pradesh 4 Offices Assam 10 Adopted Bihar 2 STS Chhattisgarh 12 Maharashtra 49 Goa 2 Uttarakhand 1 Gujarat 4 Total 50 Haryana 44 b) The Status of adoption of OPGM by SAB Himachal Pradesh 173 Nodal offices is placed under: Karnataka 46 68Annual Report | 2020-21 Numerous engagements or web sessions were also Name of the SG No. of SABs/ SAB held in association with PoPs / Institutions etc. Nssodal offices to propagate NPS to the Employers/Employees adopted OPGM directly which resulted in 1,100 new corporates Kerala 5 enrollments and 1,14,803 employees subscribing Madhya Pradesh 10 to NPS during the year. Moreover, with special Maharashtra 84 emphasis put forth to onboard Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in NPS, the total Manipur 3 number of CPSEs adopting NPS has increased Meghalaya 2 to 50 entities at the end of financial year. The Mizoram 2 webinars organized in association with the trade Odisha 4 bodies were as under: Punjab 73 Table No. 3.28: Corporate Sector Rajasthan 74 Conferences held during Telangana 7 FY 2020-21 Uttar Pradesh 72 Date Place In association Total 633 with c) The Status of adoption of OPGM by Central Government Nodal offices is placed under: July 8, 2020 Mumbai FICCI August 11, Guwahati FICCI Table No. 3.27: The Status of adoption of 2020 STS / OPGM by Central Government Nodal offices September Kolkata ICC 10, 2020 Accounting No. of Nodal Offices October 15, Bhubaneshwar ICC Formation Adopted OPGM 2020 Civil 237 November Kerala FICCI 11, 2020 Defence 7 November Hyderabad ICC Post 24 26, 2020 Railways 68 December Mumbai ICC CABs 180 22, 2020 Total 537 January 27, Delhi ICC 2021 3.9.3 Conferences under Corporate Sector January 29, Chandigarh CII 2021 PFRDA in its endeavor to create awareness about pensions and promote NPS in the non- February 18, Gurugram CII government segment has tied up with various 2021 trade bodies (FICCI, CII, ICC) to disseminate February 23, Noida CII information to their members and workshops/ 2021 seminars on retirement planning/pensions/NPS March 23, North Eastern ICC were organized across the country in association 2021 States with these trade bodies. During the financial year 2020-21, 13 such webinars were organized March 25, Delhi CII alongwith FICCI / CII / ICC in which more than 2021 1000 delegates from 300 corporates participated. 69PART III 3.9.4 Conferences/ Programmes/ Meetings APY SLBC Town hall Meetings under Atal Pension Yojana The Meetings were organized in various Districts Major steps have been initiated by the Government in the States & UTs across the country in association of India/PFRDA to popularize and create with SLBCs and Lead District Managers to awareness about APY: generate awareness about the APY scheme and to increase enrolments under APY in line with APY • Periodic advertisements in print and Citizen's Choice Campaign. electronic media. • Capacity building of bank officials by S. Name of SLBC Online / Offline conducting training programs by empaneled No. training agency. 1 Delhi Online Meeting • Participation in town hall meetings, SLBC FY 2020-21 2 Haryana meetings. 3 Kerala • Engagement with NCFE, NABARD, NRLM, 4 Punjab National and State Cooperative Federations for broad basing of APY. 5 Tamil Nadu Table No. 3.29: APY Programmes and 6 Telangana Meetings held during FY 2020-21 7 Jammu & Kashmir 8 Karnataka APY Zonal Strategy & Review Meetings 9 Uttarakhand The meetings were organized with the objective of reviewing performance of various banks for the 10 Uttar Pradesh previous year and their strategies for the current 11 Assam financial year 12 Bihar S. Date Meeting Details 13 Goa No. 14 Gujarat 1 December 10, Online Meeting 15 Madhya Pradesh 2020 - Major - Chaired by 16 Maharashtra Banks and C h a i r m a n , Regional Rural PFRDA. 17 Odisha Banks 18 Rajasthan Subject - APY 2 December 12, Insights 19 West Bengal 2020 – Private (Interaction 20 Jharkhand Banks , Small between PFRDA Finance Banks and APY-SPs) 3.10 Performance of pension funds and Regional Rural Banks Reference Table no. 3.30, Funds under NPS Schemes have shown overall growth of 38.46 3 February 16, 2021 per cent Y-o-Y. The AUM under equity segment - Major Banks comprising both for Tier I & II has grown by 4 February 17, 2021 139.37per cent followed by Scheme A which has - Regional Rural grown by 88.79 per cent Y-o-Y. The scheme wise Banks growth details are as below: 70Annual Report | 2020-21 Table 3.30: Asset Under Management (AUM) Break up in NPS - Growth Scheme Wise Position as on March 31, 2021 Growth in AUM YoY Mar 2020 YoY Mar 2021 Schemes Mar-19 Mar-20 Mar-21 over Mar 2019 over Mar 2020 Amount % Amount % Equity Tier I 7234.21 7932.06 18979.51 697.85 9.65 11047.45 139.28 Equity Tier II 325.44 352.55 850.99 27.11 8.33 498.44 141.38 Equity Total 7559.65 8284.61 19830.50 724.96 9.59 11545.89 139.37 % Share in Total AUM of 39.03 31.18 41.59 Tier I&II Bonds (C)Tier I 4422.07 6495.77 9686.51 2073.70 46.89 3190.74 49.12 Bonds (C)Tier II 209.08 297.26 482.72 88.18 42.18 185.46 62.39 Bonds (C) Total 4631.15 6793.03 10169.23 2161.88 46.68 3376.20 49.70 % Share in Total AUM of Tier I&II 23.91 25.57 21.33 G Sec (G) Tier I 6896.75 10992.81 16766.30 4096.06 59.39 5773.49 52.52 G Sec (G) Tier II 262.69 457.16 835.48 194.47 74.03 378.32 82.75 G Sec (G) Total 7159.44 11,449.97 17,601.78 4290.53 59.93 6151.81 53.73 % Share in Total AUM of 36.96 43.10 36.92 Tier I&II Scheme A Tier I 19.52 39.60 74.76 20.08 102.87 35.16 88.79 Scheme A Tier II - - - - - - - Scheme A Total 19.52 39.60 74.76 20.08 102.87 35.16 88.79 % Share in Total AUM of 0.10 0.15 0.16 Tier I&II Sub Total Tier I 18572.60 25460.24 45507.08 6887.64 37.08 20046.84 78.74 Sub Total Tier II 797.21 1106.97 2169.19 309.76 38.86 1062.22 95.96 Tier I + Tier II 19369.80 26567.21 47676.27 7197.41 37.16 21109.06 79.46 NPS Lite 3409.23 3728.40 4354.38 319.17 9.36 625.98 16.79 APY 6860.30 10526.26 15687.11 3665.96 53.44 5160.85 49.03 Corporate CG 20682.80 27143.03 36929.68 6460.23 31.23 9786.65 36.06 Sub Total (Pvt Sector) 50322.14 67964.87 104647.44 17642.73 35.06 36682.57 53.97 % Share in Total AUM 15.81 16.28 18.10 Central Govt 109010.70 138014.67 181416.26 29003.97 26.61 43401.59 31.45 % Share in Total AUM 34.26 33.06 31.39 State Govt 158881.11 211499.55 291959.92 52618.44 33.12 80460.37 38.04 % Share in Total AUM 49.93 50.66 50.51 Sub Total (Govt.) 267891.81 349514.22 473376.18 81622.41 30.47 123861.96 35.44 % Share in Total AUM 84.19 83.72 81.90 Scheme TTS - - 2.12 % Share in Total AUM - - - Grand Total 318213.95 417479.13 578025.74 99265.18 31.19 160546.61 38.46 Source: NPS Trust website reports. 71PART III Table 3.31: The Position of the AUM with the Pension Funds AUM Increase in AUM (In Rs. crore) to be round off to S. No. PFM zero place of decimal March 2020 March 2021 Amount Per cent 1 SBI Pension Funds Pvt. Ltd 1,60,491.35 2,22,615.19 62,123.84 38.71 2 UTI Retirement Solutions Ltd. 1,22,200.71 1,66,209.21 44,008.51 36.01 3 LIC Pension Fund Ltd. 1,21,027.73 1,63,389.54 42,361.81 35.00 4 HDFC Pension Management Co. 8,265.33 16,383.98 8,118.65 98.23 Ltd. 5 ICICI Prudential Pension Fund 4,352.55 7,558.64 3,206.08 73.66 Management Co. Ltd. 6 Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund 991.38 1,572.14 580.77 58.58 Ltd. 7 Birla Sun Life Pension 150.09 297.03 146.94 97.90 Management Ltd. Total 4,17,479.13 5,78,025.74 1,60,546.60 38.46 Table 3.32: Scheme wise Pension Fund wise returns as on March 31, 2021 Since inception (in per cent) Scheme SBIPF LICPF UTIRSL KOTAK HDFC ICICI BIRLA CG 10.11 9.86 9.85 SG 9.80 9.86 9.85 NPS Lite 10.37 10.39 10.34 10.19 APY 9.55 9.97 9.89 Corporate CG 10.00 10.05 E-I 10.28 12.09 11.78 11.14 14.81 11.90 12.18 C-I 10.51 10.26 9.43 10.10 10.47 10.46 9.98 G I 9.86 11.28 8.85 9.08 10.28 9.12 9.15 A-I 9.43 7.78 5.81 7.43 8.26 6.79 5.84 E-II 10.08 9.62 10.47 10.49 12.63 10.26 12.09 C-II 10.09 9.60 9.50 9.38 9.56 10.32 8.93 G-II 9.88 11.54 9.57 8.85 10.45 9.23 8.04 Source: NPS Trust Annual report. The date of inception is different for different schemes. Returns above 1 year periods are annualized Inception dates: LIC, SBI & UTI April 01,2008 for CG scheme & June 25, 2009 for SG Scheme Inception dates: Birla May 09, 2017, HDFC August, 01, 2013, ICICI May 18, 2009, Kotak May 5,2009, LIC July 03, 2013, SBI May 15, 2009 and UTI May 21, 2009 for (E-I) Inception date : LIC October 04, 2010; Kotak Jan 30, 2012; SBI September 16 2010; UTI October, 04, 2010 (NPS Lite) UTI Scheme Corporate CG ended in the financial year 2013-14 (corporate CG) Inception dates: Birla May 09, 2017, HDFC August, 01, 2013, ICICI Dec 21, 2009, Kotak Dec 14,2009, LIC August 12, 2013, SBI Dec 14, 2009 and UTI Dec 14, 2009 for (E-II) Inception dates: LIC July 23, 2013; HDFC August 01, 2013; Birla May,9 2017 , ICICI May 18, 2009, Kotak May 15, 2009, SBI May 15, 2009 and UTI May, 21 2009 (C-I) Inception dates: LIC August 12, 2013; HDFC August 01, 2013); Birla May, 9, 2017, ICICI December 21,2009, Kotak December 14, 2009, SBI December 14, 2009 and UTI December 14, 2009 C-II Inception dates: LIC July 23, 2013; HDFC August 01, 2013; Birla May, 9, 2017, ICICI May 18,2009, Kotak May 15, 2009, SBI May 15, 2009 and UTI 21 May, 2009 (G-I) Inception dates: LIC August 12, 2013; HDFC August 01, 2013; Birla May,9, 2017 ICICI December 30, 2009; Kotak December 14, 2009; SBI December 14, 2009 and UTI December 14, 2009 (G-II); Inception dates: LIC October 13, 2016; HDFC October 10, 2016; Birla May 15, 2017 ICICI November 21, 2016; Kotak October 14, 2016; SBI October 13, 2016 and UTI October 14, 2016 (Scheme A-I) 72Annual Report | 2020-21 3.11 Regulated Assets 3.12 Fees and other charges levied or collected “Regulated Assets” means and includes tangible by the Authority during the financial year and intangible assets created exclusively for the Fees and charges are levied on the subscribers of purpose of operations of CRA comprising bespoke the NPS at various stages by the intermediaries software with all the components required for serving to the subscribers. At the entry to the running the application, any third party software NPS system, the intermediaries responsible for and component off the shelf specific to the CRA registration of the subscribers in NPS i.e. PoPs, application system, all relevant CRA project charge fees which are collected upfront from the data, dedicated specific hardware/software subscribers. The charge for registration of Atal components of Data Centre and Disaster Recovery Pension Yojana (APY) is borne by the government. Centre, networks and all other facilities excluding In the next stage, CRA, the recordkeeping agency, physical infrastructure (building, air conditioners, levies fee for opening account and generation of power supply infrastructure, furniture). PRAN, maintenance of account by cancellation of units. Thereafter, for each transaction involving On the expiry of the tenure of the registration or in contribution of the subscribers there is charge by the event of termination of the CRA, information both CRA and POP. Investment management fee and regulated assets held by CRA shall be is charged by the Pension Funds for managing transferred to another CRA registered with the the investment portfolio of the subscribers. The Authority, within the time period and in the custodian of the securities charges for the assets manner, as may be required under the PFRDA under its custody and reimbursement of NPS Act, rules or regulations or as may be directed by Trust expenses are charged from the subscribers. the Authority. Table No. 3.33: Fees and Charges to the Subscribers at Various Stages Intermediary Charge head Service Charges* Private / Govt. Lite/APY CRA PRA Opening CRA charges for CRA charges for account NCRA: Rs. 15.00 charges account opening if opening if the subscriber KCRA: Rs. 15:00 the subscriber opts opts for e-PRAN card (in CAMS: Rs. 15.00 for Physical PRAN Rs.) card (in Rs.) Welcome Welcome kit sent in kit sent physical vide email only NCRA 40.00 35.00 18.00 KCRA 39.36 39.36 4.00 CAMS 40.00 - - Note: The reduction in charges will be on the current charge structure and excludes applicable taxes. Charges will be applicable post release of the functionalities by CRAs to capture the choice of NPS subscribers to have physical or ePRAN card. Annual PRA NCRA: Rs. 84 NCRA: Rs. 20 Maintenance cost KCRA: Rs. 57.63 KCRA: Rs. 14.40 per account CAMS: Rs. 65.00 CAMS: Rs. 16.25 Charge per NCRA: Rs. 3.75 Free transaction KCRA: Rs. 3.36 CAMS: Rs. 3.50 POP - Private Govt. - Initial subscriber Rs. 200 (Non- Negotiable) NA NA registration and contribution upload 73PART III Intermediary Charge head Service Charges* Private / Govt. Lite/APY Any subsequent Upto 0.25 per cent of contribution NA NA transactions Minimum 0.10 per cent of contribution amount with minimum of Rs. 20 and Max. Rs. 25000. Non-Financial Rs. 20 Persistency Rs. 50 per annum NA NA > 6 months & Rs 1000 contribution Contribution 0.10 per cent of contribution, NA NA through eNPS Min. Rs.10 Max. Rs.10000 (Only for NPS—All Citizen and Tier-II Accounts) Trustee Bank - NIL Custodian Asset Servicing 0.0032 per cent p.a for Electronic segment & Physical segment charges PF charges Investment 0.01 per cent of AUM p.a. 0.0102 per cent of AUM p.a. Management Fee (For Private Sector) (For Government Sector) NPS Trust Reimbursement of 0.005 per cent p.a Expenses Note:-The above charges were applicable as on March 31, 2021. For latest charges please refer relevant pages of the NPS Trust/PFRDA website. * In case of Government employees, CRA charges are being paid by the respective Governments. # Erst-while Karvy Computershare Pvt. Ltd (K Fintech Pvt. Ltd) has started operation w.e,f. February 15, 2017. The fees received by PFRDA from the various 3.13 Information sought for, inspections intermediaries during the Financial Year 2020-21 undertaken, inquiries conducted and is provided in the table below: investigations undertaken including audit of intermediaries and other entities or organizations Table 3.34: Fees Received during the Financial connected with pension funds. Year 2020-21 (to be received from F&A) 3.13.1 Inquiries and Investigations S. Intermediary Fee PFRDA and NPS Trust review the reports submitted no. receipt by CRA, Trustee Bank and their auditors to ensure (Rs. In that the intermediary is following the turnaround Lakh)* time as defined in service level agreements. 1 Trustee Bank -Axis Bank 2287.55 3.13.2 Inspection and Audits 2 Pension Fund 2101.69 (i) PFRDA, Central Recordkeeping Agency 3 CRA - NSDL - E Governance 988.52 and Trustee Bank regulations also have Infrastructure ltd. provision to conduct audit and inspection 4 CRA- Kfin Technologies 13.00 of CRA and Trustee Bank to protect the Pvt. Ltd. interests of the subscribers. During Financial year 2020-21 Internal audit of all the Pension 5 Custodian - SHCIL 192.61 Funds were undertaken by the Internal 6 Retirement Advisor / POP/ 333.00 Auditors appointed by Pension Funds as Aggregator/ASP/RFP per the guidance note for the appointment Processing Fee of Internal Auditor issued by the Authority. Total 5916.37 During the Financial Year 2020-21, no *Note: Fees & receipts are accounted on accrual basis. inspection of Pension Funds were conducted due to pandemic. 74Annual Report | 2020-21 The audit of the schemes managed by the (b) Onsite monitoring: respective Pension Funds was also done. (i) PFRDA conducts onsite inspections of the Pension Funds are also subject to Statutory POPs to monitor the compliance of the PoPs Audit. and their adherence to the operational TATs During the Financial Year 2020-21, no as specified in the operations guidelines inspection was conducted for Custodian i.e. under the regulations. The inspection Stockholding Corporation of India due to parameters cover all the services offered pandemic. by the PoPs under NPS, right from the PFRDA also undertakes supervision of enrolment process to final exit. The PoPs Non-Government Sector such as Points of are required to comply to various Acts Presence under NPS, NPS Lite and APY and Rules viz. the customer due diligence with respect to their compliance with the process including compliance of KYC as per Pension Fund Regulatory and Development PMLA Act and Rules. Other pertinent issues Authority (Point of Presence) Regulations, include escalated grievances pending for 2018 and the operational guidelines issued resolution, reporting of operational delays, there under. payment of compensation if any, balances in collection accounts etc. (ii) Authority regulates and supervises the PoPs through offsite and onsite monitoring (ii) Owing to difficulties in traveling/logistic mechanism, the details of which are as due to Covid-19 pandemic, inspections were under: not carried out during Financial year 2020- 21. However, PFRDA has conducted 120 (a) Offsite monitoring: VCs with 70 PoPs on monitoring of various The offsite monitoring and supervision include compliance issues such as submission of review of the following reports submitted to the application forms by PoPs, submission NPST / PFRDA: of Utilization Certificate for government a) Monthly/quarterly exception reports on the co-contribution under APY, submission delays in SCF uploads and remittance of of Compliance Reports, compliance of contributions and other subsequent services; observation of Inspection conducted by PFRDA during FY 2019-20 and unreconciled/ b) Quarterly/half yearly compliance certificates; outstanding contributions in collection c) Account balance certificate on un-reconciled account under NPS, NPS-Lite, and APY etc. balances in NPS collection accounts; (iii) Issuance of advisories/directions/notices d) Half yearly/yearly internal audit reports; under Regulation 14(2)(o) of PFRDA e) Cyber security certificate; Act,2013 to PoPs under NPS, NPS Lite, APY f) Pending grievances; and RAs g) Utilisation Certificate under APY for PFRDA issues advisories/directions/ credit of Government Co-contributions to notices to POPs to ensure the compliance subscribers saving bank account. and smooth functioning of activities under NPS. The defaulting intermediaries are advised to take corrective action, adhere to the specified (iv) Submission of preliminary report operational Turn Around Times and to pay In the event of any alleged violations having compensation for delays. been detected, which prima facie discloses In serious cases, the matter could be referred any act of omission or commission covered to Adjudication Department for initiating under Section 28 of the Act, a formal adjudication proceedings wherein if found guilty, preliminary report is submitted to Member monitory penalty could be imposed. in Charge (Investigation and Surveillance) in 75PART III accordance to PFRDA (Procedure for inquiry 3.14 Others by Adjudicating Officer) Regulations, 2015. 3.14.1 Subscribers (category wise) covered under (v) Policy Matters the National Pension System and other pension Based on the requirement and suggestions schemes under the Act received from various stakeholders for i) Number of Subscribers under NPS improvement in process and procedures, PFRDA examines and recommends the Enrolment of subscribers in NPS increased from improvements for the benefit of subscribers 345.55 lakh in March 2020 to 424.40 lakh in March, and stakeholders. 2021. The growth of number of subscribers during For all other intermediaries under NPS, similar 2020-21 is 22.82 per cent. A year-wise number of mechanism exists for offsite/onsite inspections. NPS subscribers is provided in below chart. Table 3.35: Sector wise number of Subscribers under NPS/APY Sectors March 2020 March 2021 Growth over year (No. in lakh) (No. in lakh) Absolute increase Per cent (No. in lakh) Central Government 21.02 21.76 0.74 3.52 % to total 6.08 5.13 State Government 47.54 51.41 3.87 8.14 % to total 13.76 12.11 Corporate 9.74 11.25 1.51 15.50 % to total 2.82 2.65 All Citizen/UoS 12.52 16.47 3.95 31.55 % to total 3.62 3.88 NPS Lite* 43.31 43.02 - - % to total 12.54 10.14 APY 211.42 280.49 69.07 32.67 % to total 61.18 66.09 Total 345.55 424.40 78.85 22.82 *(No fresh registration permitted after 01st April, 2015) Chart 3.1: Year wise number of subscribers under NPS & APY 76Annual Report | 2020-21 ii) No. of subscribers – Sector wise Table 3.36: No. of Subscribers, Contribution & AUM of Government Sector as on March 31, 2021 Sector No. of subscribers Contributions AUM (Rs. crore) (Rs. crore) Central Government 21,75,846 1,23,123.93 1,81,788.30 State Government 51,40,504 2,14,710.48 2,91,381.41 Total 73,16,350 3,37,834.41 4,73,169.71 • Government subscribers have increased registering an increase of 4.61 lakh (6.71 per from 68.56 lakh as end of March 2020 to cent). 73.16 lakh subscribers as end of March 2021, iii) Private Sector Table 3.37: No. of Subscribers, Contribution & AUM of Private Sector as on March 31, 2021 Particulars No. of subscribers Contributions AUM (Rs. in crore) (Rs. in crore) Corporate Sector 11,25,163 44,710.52 62,608.74 All Citizen/UoS * 16,46,773 22,510.19 22,205.50 Total 27,71,936 67,220.71 84,814.24 • Under Private sector, number of corporate lakh as end of March 2020 to 16.47 lakh as subscribers has increased from 9.74 lakh to end of March 2021, an increase of 3.22 lakh 11.25 lakh, an increase of 1.51 lakh (15.50 (31.55 per cent) subscribers. per cent) subscribers. The subscribers under iii) Unorganised Sector UoS/All Citizen have increased from 12.52 Table 3.38: No. of Subscribers, Contribution & AUM of NPS Lite and APY as on March 31, 2021 Particulars Subscribers (In No.) Contributions AUM (Rs. in crore) (Rs. in crore) NPS Lite 43,02,258 2,858.41 4,354.38 Atal Pension Yojana 2,80,49,151 13,764.17 15,687.11 Total 3,23,51,409 16,622.58 20,041.49 • Number of subscribers under NPS Lite and defined pension after 60 years of age. APY, together, has increased from 254.74 • Under the APY, the subscribers would lakh in March 2020 to 323.51 lakh in March receive the minimum guaranteed pension of 2021, increasing by 68.77 lakh subscribers Rs. 1000 per month, Rs. 2000 per month, Rs. (27 per cent) . 3000 per month, Rs. 4000 per month, Rs. 5000 • New entry into NPS Lite scheme has been per month, at the age of 60 years, depending discontinued w.e.f. April 1, 2015 and on their contributions, which itself would APY was launched on May 9, 2015 and it be based on the subscriber’s age on joining became operational from 1st July, 2015. the APY. The minimum age of joining APY APY is focused on the poor and the under- is 18 years and maximum age is 40 years. privileged citizen of India; it will provide a 77PART III Therefore, minimum period of contribution PRAN counts, which are no. of records who by any subscriber under APY would be 20 have received the Govt co-contribution in years or more. said financial year and not the unique PRAN • Scheme operates through all Bank Branches count. /Post Offices/Payment Banks/Small • Under APY:- Finance Banks registered with Central a. 76.60 per cent of the subscribers Recordkeeping Agency (CRA). have opted for Rs 1000 pension • APY scheme is managed by three public amount whereas 14.97 per cent of the sector pension funds namely LIC, SBI and subscribers have opted for Rs 5000 UTI. The asset under management of this pension amount. scheme as in March 2021 is Rs. 15404 crore. b. 27.58 per cent of the pension aspirants The scheme has generated around 9.80 per are in the age group of 21-25 years. cent CAGR since inception till March 2021. c. The ratio of female and male • During FY 2020-21 Government of India subscribers is 44:56. co-contribution fund released to 17.58 lakh Table 3.39: Detailed Analysis of registered APY subscribers (PRANs Generated) on the basis of Gender, Pension Amount and Age. Gender wise S. No. Gender PRAN Count Percentage 1 Female 13219251 43.75 2 Male 16989707 56.23 3 Transgender 6,842 0.02 Total 3,02,15,800 100.00 Pension Amount wise S. No. Pension Amount (Rs. Per month) PRAN Count Percentage 1 1,000 2,31,46,273 76.60 2 2,000 15,08,674 4.99 3 3,000 7,46,581 2.47 4 4,000 2,92,195 0.97 5 5,000 45,22,077 14.97 Total 3,02,15,800 100.00 Age wise S. No. Age Range PRAN Count Percentage 1 Between 18 to 20 Years 47,62,099 15.76 2 Between 21 to 25 Years 83,34,404 27.58 3 Between 26 to 30 Years 76,00,108 25.15 4 Between 31 to 35 Years 60,14,328 19.90 5 Above 35 Years 35,04,861 11.60 Total 3,02,15,800 100.00 78Annual Report | 2020-21 3.14.2 Points of Presence 3. 14.3 Asset under Management Scheme wise Under POP Regulations, 2018, As on March 31, The details of the scheme wise asset under 2021, PFRDA has issued Certificate of Registration management in given in the table below: to 306 PoPs and 39 PoP-SEs. Table 3.40: Scheme wise Asset under Management (Rs in crore) Scheme Mar-20 Mar-21 Absolute Growth Growth in Per cent Central Government 138014.59 181416.26 State Government 211499.67 291959.92 Sub Total 349514.26 473376.18 123861.92 35.44 NPS Lite 3728.40 4354.38 Atal Pension Yojana 10526.26 15687.11 Corporate CG 27143.03 36929.68 Tier I - E 7932.05 18979.51 Tier I - C 6495.76 9686.52 Tier I - G 10992.80 16766.29 Tier I - A 39.60 74.76 Tier II - E 352.55 850.98 Tier II- C 297.26 482.73 Tier II - G 457.16 835.49 Tier II - TTS - 2.12 Sub Total 67964.87 104649.56 36684.69 53.97 Grand Total 417479.13 578025.74 160546.61 38.46 The table above indicate that the asset under After notification of the PFRDA (Central management for government sector NPS schemes Recordkeeping Agency) Regulations, 2015 with (CG and SG) has grown by around 35 per cent, effect from April 27, 2015, NSDL e-Governance however the asset under management of the Infrastructure Ltd was issued certificate of schemes other than these two schemes has grown registration to work as Central Record keeping by around 54 per cent. In terms of absolute Agency effective from December 18, 2015 for the number, the government sector schemes grew by remaining period of the original contract dated Rs. 1,23,862 crore whereas other than government November 26, 2007 effective from December 01, sector schemes in aggregate grew by Rs. 36,685 2007 for 10 years and after that periodic extensions crore. were granted. CRA acts as an operational interface for all 3.14.4 The Central Recordkeeping Agency, its intermediaries. The role includes liasoning with role and functions all necessary external agencies and recordkeeping, i) Introduction administration and customer service functions for NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd, all subscribers of the NPS. was appointed by PFRDA, as the Central During the FY 2016-17, PFRDA had registered Recordkeeping Agency and an agreement was M/s KFin Technologies Private Limited executed on November 26, 2007. 79PART III (earstwhile M/s Karvy Computershare Private ii) Role and responsibilities of CRA Limited) as second CRA and allowed them to The major role and responsibilities of CRA are as start its operations for servicing of accounts follows: sourced through e-NPS module of NPS Trust i. Continuous Enhancements and wherein the subscriber was provided an option developments of new functionalities to choose between NSDL e-governance Ltd (1st It is the responsibility of the CRA to create and CRA) and M/s Kfin Technologies CRA (2nd establish Facilitation-Centres network across CRA) with effect from February 15, 2017 and country. They have to develop various new other distribution channels thereafter. M/s Kfin functionalities/utilities and do continuous Technologies CRA was allowed to service the new enhancements and development of modules accounts till March 31, 2017 and thereafter it was to address changing requirements of various allowed to function as a full-fledged CRA with stakeholders. interoperability functionality providing for option ii. Services to Subscribers of all sectors to shift for existing subscribers of NPS from April The primary role of CRA is of recordkeeping, 01, 2017 onwards. administration, providing customer service Recently, Computer Age Management Services functions for all NPS subscribers, issuance of Ltd. (CAMS) has been granted Certificate of unique Permanent Retirement Account Number Registration under PFRDA (CRA) Regulations, (PRAN) and IPIN/TPIN to the subscribers. 2015. As on March 31, 2021, CAMS is yet to The various services to the subscribers includes commence its operations. sending SMS alerts and emails at the time of registration, credit/ debit of units, withdrawal, Under sub regulation 4 of regulation 3 the CRA balance in the PRAN, conducting subscriber regulations, the allocation of the subscribers awareness programs and providing web-based between the existing central recordkeeping agency access to all the NPS stakeholders. CRA also and the other central recordkeeping agency provides Centralized Grievance Management or agencies, if appointed, shall be based on a System and Call-Centre facility to the subscribers transparent criteria and process as may be notified and Nodal offices. Besides these services all by the Authority from time to time having regard subscriber maintenance services such as change of to the subscribers’ interest. Accordingly, the scheme, change of demographic details, grievance handling etc. are being handled by CRA. criterion for allocation of subscribers is mentioned as under: iii. Services to Intermediaries (i) PFs In case where there is employee- employer It is the primary responsibility of CRA to timely relationship, including corporate, if the CRA intimate the position of the funds to PFs, prepare charges are being borne by the employer, the and send consolidated Investment Preference decision to select the CRA shall rest with the Scheme information, sending net fund transfer employer, unless they specifically delegate the report to PFs on the basis of confirmation of fund option to individual employees and in all other transfer report received from Trustee bank and to cases, the choice of selection of CRA will rest with measure the Scheme performance reports using the employee/ subscriber under NPS. In case of NAVs sent by PFs to CRA. voluntary subscribers (without existence of any employee-employer relationship) the option to (ii) TB choose a CRA rests with the subscriber in general. To reconcile pension fund reports received from In case of subscribers registered under Atal Trustee Bank Account(s) with pension fund contribution information report and generate Pension Yojana, the respective government will error/discrepancy report on fund reconciliation, choose the CRA for rendering the services. In case sending instruction to Trustee Bank to remit of NPS Lite subscribers the PoP/Aggregator had withdrawal fund to subscribers’ account and remit the option to choose the CRA. 80Annual Report | 2020-21 remaining amount to Annuity Service Providers’ of Finance, conduct periodic orientation programs account against the annuity scheme. for nodal offices and to provide seamless and error-free system operations involving CRA (iii) ASPs system, PFMs, TB and other entities in NPS. To collect physical application forms from the (i) Annual fee subscribers and forward them to ASPs and The Central recordkeeping agency will pay an sharing funds transfer details for the subscriber’s annual fee at the rate of 0.05 times of the service annuity to ASPs. Transferring electronic data charges as specified in regulation 22 of PFRDA transfer to ASPs with respect to subscriber details (Central Recordkeeping Agency) Regulations, and sending instruction on Annuity scheme. 2015. (iv) Others (ii) CRA Service Charges Provide periodic and ad-hoc MIS (including The charge structure for NPS regular and NPS Grievance redressal) to PFRDA, State Lite/APY subscribers is provided hereunder the Governments, Central Government and Ministry information of all concerned: Table 3.41: Charge Structure for NPS Regular and NPS Lite/APY S. No Service Charge M/s NSDL e-governance M/s Kfin technologies Pvt Ltd head Infrastructure Ltd (1st CRA) (2nd CRA) NPS Regular NPS Lite/ APY NPS Regular NPS Lite/ APY (Rs.) (Rs.) (Rs.) (Rs.) 1 PRA opening 40.00 15.00 39.36 15 charges 2 PRA Annual 84.00 20.00 57.63 14.4 maintenance charges 3 Transaction charges 3.75 NIL 3.36 NIL Note:-The above charges were applicable as on March 31, 2021. For latest charges please refer relevant pages of the NPS Trust/PFRDA website. iv) Regulations enforcement powers and implementation of an The PFRDA (Central Recordkeeping Agency) efficient compliance program in tune with the Regulations, 2015, have been notified on April spirit of PFRDA Act. 27, 2015. Subsequently, PFRDA (Central Entity registered as Central Recordkeeping Agency Recordkeeping Agency) (First Amendment) through this regulation is required to establish Regulations, 2018 have been notified on June 25, an internal system that delivers compliance 2018 and the Second Amendment were notified with standards for internal organization and on July 29, 2020. operational conduct, with the aim of protecting The objective of the Pension Fund Regulatory and the interests of NPS subscribers and their assets. Development Authority (Central Recordkeeping v) Development of New Functionalities Agency) Regulations, 2015 and amendments Continuous enhancements and development of thereto is to set standards for the eligibility, modules to address changing requirements of governance, organization and operational various stakeholders is one the main objective of conduct of the entity who wish to function as CRA. Various functionalities were developed by Central Recordkeeping Agency. Regulations CRA to ensure the seamless functioning of NPS would ensure an effective and credible use system. Few of the major developments are as of inspection, investigation, surveillance and under: 81PART III Facilities available to Subscribers under NPS vi) Contribution facility to give effect to Govt. i) Direct Remittance – As described about the notification on increase in Govt. contribution D-Remit facility earlier, further to that, NPS from 10 per cent to 14 per cent for Central subscribers who are intending to make their Govt. subscribers w.e.f. 01.04.2019. Feature voluntary contributions through D-Remit of employer contribution @ 14 per cent would be required to access CRA System Employer contribution feature also released and generate Virtual ID linked to their for CABs. 160 out of 621 CABs confirmed to PRAN. Post authorization of Virtual ID, contribute 14 per cent. 14 per cent Employer subscribers can log-in to their Net Banking feature also rolled out for SGs- UP, Bihar, and add Virtual ID generated as above with TN(AIS), Karnataka, UK and MP have IFSC details as a Beneficiary, to transfer their started contributing 14 per cent. voluntary contributions. Subscribers, shall vii) Scheme Preference change option provided thus be able to give Standing instructions to CG, SG, CABs and SABs. 26789 Govt. for making periodic payments into NPS. Subscribers have exercised the choice of Total of Rs. 229.73 Cr has been contributed scheme preference change adopted. through D Remit channel as on March 31, viii) OTP based Authentication provided in 2021. lieu of eSign for availing online NPS/ APY ii) D Remit for NRI - D Remit as a mode of services. contribution has been made available for ix) Choice of CRA to subscribers: Subscribers NRIs also. can now change their CRAs two times in a iii) Payment modes in eNPS – year from the current once in a year. UPI based Transaction in eNPS rolled out in x) Aadhaar based offline paperless KYC 2020. verification process for NPS on-boarding To optimize the cost of deposit in eNPS, PFRDA gave approval to make Aadhaar there is now zero cost for Net-banking and based offline paperless KYC verification Debit card based transactions and 0.8 per process through Aadhaar XML file available cent of the contribution for credit card based to NPS subscribers on voluntary basis for transactions. onboarding of subscribers through eNPS iv) Online bank account and address change portal. Subscriber would be required to – Subscribers were provided the facility select ‘Aadhaar’ option to enroll through to modify their address and bank account offline Aadhaar based registration process. through online platform. The new offline process shall maintain v) ePRAN to be treated at par with Physical privacy and security wherein only a part PRAN card Subscribers will be given the of Aadhaar number would be shared with option to select ePRAN or Physical PRAN entity/service provider doing paperless card at the time of subscriber registration. KYC, in compliance of Hon’ble SC Order. The Accordingly, the CRA charges for account entities like CRAs (Central Recordkeeping opening are reduced in case the subscriber Agencies) can verify the KYC details shared opts for ePRAN card. Further, the same will by the subscriber with his/her due consent. be considered of equal value as Physical Offline Aadhaar has been provided w.e.f. PRAN card for availing various services June 2020. 1,49,893 have authenticated under NPS. In case of Physical PRAN card , through offline Aadhaar till March 31, 2021 CRA account opening charges - Rs 40 (NSDL since the release of the feature. CRA)& Rs 39.36(Kfin Technologies CRA). xi) Online Aadhaar based eKYC rolled out In case of e PRAN card , CRA acct opening for subscriber registration through eNPS charges - Rs 18 (NSDL CRA)& Rs 4(Kfin platform maintained by NSDL-CRA w.e.f. Technologies CRA). 1,05,999 subscribers April 15, 2021. have opted for the ePRAN since the release xii) Online Nomination Module: PFRDA has approved the functionality related of the feature. to updation/change of Nomination by 82Annual Report | 2020-21 nomination process under NPS including Subscribers based on the logics defined in nomination registration. More than 60000 on-boarding process (through CSRF) under e-Nomination (Paperless nomination NPS and considering PFRDA (Exits and through eSign) requests have been received Withdrawals Under the NPS) Regulations since the release of the feature. 2015, Chapter VII and Regulation 32, xiii) eNPS exit process sub-regulation (iv, v and vi), complete Normal/Pre-mature exit under e-NPS Exit related services from e-NPS due to death a. An option will be available on CRA website for Under the approved process, the nominee the subscriber to submit withdrawal request. For this has to submit the exit form to NPS Trust purpose, limited access will be provided on CRA with required documents post verification Website to the subscriber to provide withdrawal of his KYC by his bank. The nominee request details and upload scanned documents; has to get a Bank KYC confirmation on bank’s letterhead containing the photo and b. The subscriber will provide details such as Bank signature of the nominee and signed with details, address details etc. and upload scanned copies seal by the designated bank official where of their KYC documents and bank proof; the nominee has his bank account and in c. E-Sign withdrawal request - The subscriber will which he wants to receive the lump sum e-Sign withdrawal request using Aadhaar, and and/ or annuity and submit to NPS Trust. Post receiving of required documents d. Once withdrawal request is successfully submitted NPS Trust will authorize the withdrawal by the subscriber, KYC documents will be displayed request after carrying out appropriate due- to Bank-POP for verification. The verification of the diligence. request will be done by Subscriber's bank. xiv) OCI subscribers allowed to register under with answers against respective query NPS Private sector: The OCI Subscriber category are now available to Subscriber should have valid documents such as OCI & Entity (raising grievance on behalf of card and existing foreign address proof & NPS Subscriber) in CGMS. The Subscriber, other details to register in NPS. raising any query through CGMS will have a provision to view the FAQs & relevant xv) Penny drop facility for instant bank account answers based on the category of grievance verification of the subscriber in lieu of selected. providing cancelled cheque/ passbook xviii) For Facility of document (Exit Applications/ copy/ bank statement etc. KYC documents) upload (in .pdf format) xvi) Addition of following sub-categories in to Subscribers /DDOs/ Nodal Offices for CGMS for Withdrawal Superannuation, Premature and Death Exit requests. 1. Partial withdrawal not initiated / not authorised / amount not received xix) Online re-KYC option is available to Subscribers in case KYC is rejected by 2. Exit not initiated / not authorised / Bank/POP during registration under NPS. amount not received Subscriber can update the required details 3. Pre-mature withdrawal not initiated / as per rejection reason and the same will be not authorised / amount not received available for re-KYC to selected Bank/POP. Now, the re-KYC facility is extended to all 4. Death withdrawal not initiated /not the Subscribers where KYC was rejected by authorised / amount not received Banks during Subscriber Registration. xvii) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) along xx) Features in NPS Mobile App 83PART III i) Tier II Withdrawal ePRAN Card and Transaction Statement Subscriber can now initiate Tier II account with/without PRAN details. The Subscriber withdrawal under NPS using Mobile App. are then required to provide minimum The Subscriber will log into the App with details like PRAN and Bank Account their User ID and password. An option Number or Subscriber Name, Bank Account to select Tier II withdrawal and generate Number and Date or birth registered in the One Time Password (OTP) is available CRA system under APY. in Mobile App. On entering the correct iii) CGMS for NPS Lite/ APY OTP, Subscriber will have an option to Central Grievance Management System select mode of Withdrawal - (i) lumpsum (CGMS) has been implemented in NPS Lite/ (amount), or (ii) scheme wise units. Once the APY for registering queries/grievances. At option is selected and relevant details are CGMS platform, all the labels on website submitted by the Subscriber, the same will has been displayed in Hindi get executed in the CRA system and funds iv) Shifting of APY-SP/APY-SP Branch will get transferred to Subscriber's Bank Account registered with CRA. APY subscribers can shift their Bank/Branch mapped to their APY account. xxi) Features under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) v) ePRAN for NPS Lite Subscribers i) APY Mobile App Subscribers of NPS Lite can now view (a) At present option is available to download their ePRAN card. To view PRAN card various documents like Registration Form, subscribers are required to provide their Voluntary Exit Form, Contribution Matrix PRAN no. and bank account no. However, in etc. At the time of download of documents, case the subscriber does not remember their User was redirected to the NSDL Website. PRAN no. , ePRAN card can be obtained by Now, Subscriber will be able to download inputting other details such as bank account all the documents in the App only instead of no., name and date of birth. getting redirected to NSDL website. vi) Upgrade/Downgrade minimum pension (b) APY app is now live on UMANG platform. under APY Subscribers visiting UMANG platform may avail APY services Under APY, the Subscriber is required to select the minimum pension of Rs. 1,000/- (c) In APY App, Subscriber will be able to search , 2,000/-, 3,000/-, 4,000 and 5,000/- per and download PRAN Card by providing month that will be given at the age of 60 details such as Subscriber Name, Bank years depending on the contributions by the A/C Number, Date of Birth and Captcha. Subscribers. Accordingly, the contribution Subscriber is not required to login to App to is deducted from Subscriber’s Bank Account access this feature. as per the frequency opted i.e. monthly/ (d) Banks providing on-boarding facility using quarterly/half yearly. As per PFRDA Net-Banking are identified. The NSDL has guidelines, APY Subscribers have an option been advised to enable the on-boarding of to upgrade/downgrade the opted pension subscribers using APY App using the net amount. Subscribers now can upgrade or banking URL of these banks. downgrade the Pension amount at any time ii) ePRAN Card and Transaction Statement during the financial year. This facility can be The facility to download and/or print availed once during the financial year. ePRAN Card and Transaction Statement is vii) Online contribution facility for NPS Lite made available to APY Subscriber. The APY subscribers Option given to Swavalamban Subscriber can access their ePRAN Card and Subscribers to contribute online through Transaction Statement through CRA NPS eNPS platform. Subscriber has to access eNPS Lite website (www.npslite-nsdl.com). The website & select the menu ‘Contribution’ Subscriber have an option to search their and further, provide the details by selecting 84Annual Report | 2020-21 the option ‘NPS Subscriber type’ i.e. to Drawing and Disbursing Office NPS Swavalamban and PRAN details. (DDOs) for Government Sector. DDOs The contribution can be done after OTP are allowed to capture the registration authentication and confirmation of captcha details of underlying subscribers and details. The payment gateway and CRA the same are verified by the associated charges will be applicable on contributing DTOs/DTAs. Now based on requests through eNPS. received from some states, changes viii) Integration with DBT Bharat Portal: The have been made in the OPGM such successful integration of NSDL and DBT that DTO shall raise the registration Bharat portal was carried out and now details and associated DTA shall reporting of data related to DBT component verify the same. has been started through API. Earlier the nodal Offices were ix) Features for Nodal Offices/ POPs/ required to provide 26 digit PAOFIN in fund transfer instruction at the Corporates time of transfer of funds to TB. This i) PAN based API web-services has now been reduced to 13 digits to provided to PoPs with following fields reduce instances of fund return due to to carry out activities of Subscriber incorrect PAOFIN. Registration, contribution etc.: Option for initiating online conditional 1) PRAN confirmation (Yes/No) withdrawal has been provided to 2) PRAN sector DDOs. 3) PRAN Status v) Activation/ De activation of PRAN 4) Freeze Reason (if any) account ii) Server Integration between CRA and As per the requirement of the State POPs for following processes: Governments, now: i) Enabling Bulk PRAN enquiry - POP a. Reactivation of PRAN can be can check the status of bulk PRANs done by any Nodal Office even if through a web-service call to CRA the deactivation request was not system raised by the same Nodal Office. ii) Enabling Subscriber List download b. This will be allowed only for - POP can download the subscriber the entities from same State list of mapped PRANs through web- Government and implemented service only for State Government sector. iii) Bank Account details for ERM vi) Error Rectification Module (ERM) Processing - Nodal Offices are required An ERM request can be processed by to update their Bank Account details the Nodal Office through whom the in CRA records but at bank account contributions were uploaded in CRA number field, only numerical account system. In addition, now in case of number can be stored. Based on the State Govt., the facility to perform a feedback received from Nodal Offices, single ERM transaction on behalf of now alpha-numeric account number all the underlying Nodal Offices is will be accepted at Bank Account provided to the Oversight Office. This Number field for ERM processing. will save efforts and time of multiple iv) Online Subscriber Registration by ERM requests being captured by DDOs different Nodal Offices. The facility to register Subscriber In case of ERM, the amount transferred online using Online PRAN Generation to the Nodal Office/Entity is different Module (OPGM) is made available than the amount for which ERM 85PART III request was raised which may be due Deed, rules, regulations, guidelines and to to change in NAV. A new field has circulars issued by the Authority from time been added in the ERM request status to time and within the time lines as specified view which will display the actual by the Authority or the National Pension realized amount which is transferred System Trust. to the entity’s bank account to facilitate b) The day-to-day management of the pension in reconciliation. funds shall be done by the pension fund on x) CRA Toll Free Helpline behalf of the National Pension System Trust. Dedicated toll free number c) The pension fund shall, at all times (1800222081) is made available to render high standards of service, exercise Nodal Offices for contacting CRA reasonable care, prudence, professional regarding their general queries/ skill, promptness, diligence and vigilance complaints. This is in addition to an while discharging its duties in the best existing toll free number (1800222080) interests of the subscribers. The pension available for NPS Subscribers. funds shall avoid speculative investments or transactions. 3.14.5 Pension funds d) The pension fund shall employ well qualified Pension fund means an intermediary which professionals or staff with high integrity. has been granted a certificate of registration The pension fund shall be responsible for under sub - section (3) of section 27 by the the acts of commissions or omissions by its Authority as a pension fund for receiving employees or authorised persons whose contributions, accumulating them and services have been procured and its liability making payments to the subscriber in the for such acts of commissions or omissions. manner as may be specified by regulations. This liability shall survive despite the Appointed and registered Pension Funds cancellation or suspension or withdrawal of manages pension corpus through various certificate of registration or supersession of schemes under National Pension System or management by the Authority. any other Scheme. Pension Funds use their e) The pension fund shall facilitate and co- access codes to confirm receipt of netted ordinate with other intermediaries and assets and instructions regarding fund other entities inter-alia through agreements, allocation, confirm allocation of funds and technological platforms for undertaking its communicate the NAV of each scheme to functional obligations. CRA and the custodian on a regular basis. f) The pension fund shall maintain books of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development accounts, records, registers and documents Authority (Pension Fund) Regulations, relating to the operations of the pension 2015 were notified on 14th May, 2015 and schemes to ensure compliance with the the Pension Funds had to abide by these regulations, guidelines, circulars issued regulations including any amendments by the Authority from time to time, and there under. facilitate audit trail of transactions and business continuity at all times. Functions of Pension Funds g) The pension fund shall submit periodical The functions of the Pension Funds include, but and compliance reports as required under are not limited to the points mentioned below: these regulations, guidelines or circulars, a) The management of pensions schemes shall or as may be called for by the Authority, or be carried in accordance with the objects of as required by the National Pension System the schemes, provisions of the Act, Trust Trust from time to time. 86Annual Report | 2020-21 h) The pension fund shall undertake public The Investment management fee charged by disclosure of information for the benefit of Pension funds for the Govt. employees NPS subscribers in the mode and manner as may portfolio is 0.0102 per cent per annum and for the be specified by the Authority in Schedule V. non-Government sector portfolio is 0.01 per cent per annum of the assets under management. i) The pension fund shall adopt best governance practices for investments 3.14.6 The Trustee Bank and risk management like constitution of Investment Committee and Risk Committee, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development its composition, functions, policy contents Authority (Trustee Bank) Regulations and other like matters as specified in PFRDA (Trustee Bank) regulations, 2015 had been Schedule X. notified on March 23, 2015. j) The pension fund shall prevent conflict of The objective of the Pension Fund Regulatory interests that may arise while discharging and Development Authority (Trustee Bank) the obligations as a pension fund and Regulations is to set standards for the eligibility, reporting of such instances to the National governance, organization and operational conduct Pension System Trust. of the entity which gets selected as Trustee Bank. k) The pension fund shall ensure exclusivity Regulations would ensure an effective and credible and segregation of pension fund business use of inspection, investigation, surveillance and activities from its sponsors. enforcement powers and implementation of an l) The pension fund shall ensure confidentiality efficient compliance program in tune with the with respect to subscribers’ information spirit of PFRDA Act. and activities relating to the pension fund i) Trustee Bank: and protection of all information within its control except as required by the Authority Axis Bank Ltd. has been appointed as Trustee or the National Pension System Trust or Bank under NPS, in response to Request for provisions of any law. Proposal (RFP) dated October 12, 2020 issued by the Authority for selection of NPS Trustee m) The pension fund shall provide such Bank under PFRDA (Trustee Bank) Regulations, representations and warranties as may be 2015 and amendments thereto. The Certificate of necessary for the protection of subscribers’ Registration issued to Axis Bank as NPS Trustee interest on behalf of the National Pension Bank w.e.f. January 8, 2021 and is valid for a period System Trust. of five years from the date of grant of certificate List of Pension Funds (PFs) under NPS of registration and extension granted thereto, schemes unless suspended or cancelled by the Authority i) HDFC Pension Management Co. Ltd. as per regulation 13 of PFRDA (Trustee Bank) ii) ICICI Prudential Pension Fund Regulations 2015 and amendments thereto. Management Co. Ltd. A service level agreement (SLA) is executed by iii) Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Ltd. NPS Trust with Trustee Bank in line with the iv) LIC Pension Fund Ltd. provision of RFP dated October 12, 2020 and v) SBI Pension Funds Pvt. Ltd PFRDA (Trustee Bank) Regulations, 2015 and vi) UTI Retirement Solutions Pvt. Ltd amendments thereto as well as Circular and vii) Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension guidelines issued under it. Management Limited 87PART III The following diagram depicts the role of Trustee Bank in the NPS architecture Chart 3.2 : NPS Architecture and Intermediaries Roles and responsibilities of Trustee Bank: funds from Pension Fund Manager(s). 1. Trustee Bank facilitates fund transfers across 4. Return of unidentified remittances or various entities of CRA system viz. Nodal remittances with incomplete information to Offices (uploading offices), Pension Fund the concerned entity. Managers, Annuity Service Providers and 5. At the end of each settlement day, the subscribers. balance funds at Trustee Bank account are 2. Trustee Bank uploads a file containing the reconciled with CRA system. details of the funds received from various Followings are the important roles and functions Nodal Offices to the CRA system. These of NPS Trustee Bank: details are then matched with contribution 1. Trustee Bank provides banking facilities as details provided by Nodal Office(s) to CRA directed by NPS Trust under the prescribed system. regulations, guidelines, circulars and 3. Trustee Bank receives fund transfer directions of the Authority. instructions from CRA system as a part of 2. Trustee Bank signs the required Service Pay-in process to transfer funds to various Level Agreement and Non-disclosure entities viz. PFs, Annuity Services Providers, Agreement, where applicable, with the Withdrawal Account and may also receive 88Annual Report | 2020-21 National Pension System Trust and other 11. Trustee Bank maintains books and records intermediaries under the schemes regulated about the funds flow and information or administered by the Authority. flow between NPS Trustee Bank, CRA(s), 3. Trustee Bank establishes an interface subscribers, Pension Fund, etc. to ensure and works in total co-operation and co- compliance with the guidelines, and submits ordination with the other intermediaries regular reports at such intervals and in such appointed under the National Pension manner as may be required or called for by System. PFRDA/NPS Trust. 4. Trustee Bank takes all reasonable steps and 12. Trustee Bank is expected to comply with exercises due diligence to ensure that the the disclosure requirements and the code banking facilities provided are not contrary of conduct specified by PFRDA/ NPS Trust to the provisions of PFRDA/NPS Trust and other financial sector regulators from guidelines/directions and the rights and time to time. The books and records related interests of the subscribers are protected. to the Trust accounts shall be available for inspection to the authorized officers or 5. Trustee Bank accounts are on behalf of the NPS subscribers, and opened in the name of agents of PFRDA, NPS Trust, RBI, and their the NPS Trust. The NPS Trust is registered respective auditors. owner of these funds. However, individual 13. Trustee Bank submits the following Periodic NPS subscribers shall remain beneficial reports with PFRDA/NPS Trust– owners of these funds. The NPS Trust is a) Extracts of Internal audit report from exempted from payment of income tax as independent auditors with respect to per Section 10(44) of IT Act, 1961. the NPS Trust Accounts, compliance 6. Trustee Bank carries out banking functions certificates and subscriber complaints for the funds under the NPS as per reports at regular intervals. guidelines/ notifications/ directions issued b) Concurrent audit report submitted by PFRDA and operational Service Level every quarter. Agreement executed with NPS Trust and c) External audit report of all the NPS Standard Operating Procedures issued by accounts maintained with the Trustee NPS Trust based on PFRDA’s guidelines. Bank submitted annually. 7. Trustee Bank is responsible for the day-to- The scope of all the above three audits day flow of Funds. defined by PFRDA. 8. Trustee Bank transmits the information pertaining to the NPS funds available with it 14. NPS Trustee Bank shall be responsible for and instructions to the CRA(s) on a regular the acts of commissions or omissions by its basis. employees or the persons whose services have been procured by NPS Trustee Bank. 9. Trustee Bank provides web-based access to the NPS Trust, PFRDA, CRA(s) and other ii) Timelines for Trustee Bank service providers. The business activities of Trustee Bank are linked 10. Trustee Bank adapts to future changes with the other processes at CRA. Therefore, bank including changes on account of ensures that the activities are completed within technology advancements, changes in the timelines specified. The chart given below system specifications including number of gives the basic idea of the core activities and time subscribers, number of schemes, and services limit within which the same is carried out by the and functional obligations prescribed by Bank: PFRDA/NPS Trust. 89PART III Core activities of the Trustee Bank with timelines S. No Nature of activity Cut off time* Day* 1. Fund realisation at TB - T 2. Return of unidentified funds - T+1 3. Upload of fund receipt confirmation file 09:15 am Daily 4. Download pay in instruction files - Daily 5. Cut off time for Confirmation of transfer of Funds to 13:30 hrs Daily PFs and withdrawal account 6. Transfer of M&B Funds to PFs - T+1 7 Upload of statements and closing balance of various - Daily accounts Note * 1. Times and TATs are indicative. Based on the advancement in technology, applicable electronic remittance system, and allowed clearing/ electronic clearing cycle etc. the timelines may further be improved as per instruction of Authority/NPS Trust. 2. Non-compliance of the time -lines as specified by the Authority may attract penal provisions as may be specified from time to time. The present applicable rate of penal provision for non-compliance in timelines is RBI Repo plus two per cent per annum payable as compensation. Bank within prescribed cut-off time. The compensation amount shall be credited to the individual PRAN of subscriber if the amount The subscribers can now put a standing instruction is more than 50/- and would be credited to in their net-banking account which will directly Subscriber Education & Protection Fund (SEPF) remit the contribution into their PRAN accounts. account if it is less than Rs 50/- It would also reduce the timeline of investment Regulatory Fee Structure: Trustee Bank shall from T+2 to T (for contributions made before a deposit an annual fee at Repo Rate calculated threshold time) or T+1. as percentage per annum on the consolidated balances of all the NPS Trust accounts within 15 Immediate Payment System (IMPS) facility for days from the end of the quarter, this is valid for accepting contributions under D remit. Subscriber entire duration of the registration period and any can contribute using NEFT, RTGS and IMPS extension granted thereto, paid on quarterly basis facility. IMPS facility will help subscribers to directly to Authority. transfer amount under IMPS and avail same day NAV. In this regard, PFRDA issued two circulars iii) Direct Remittance (D-Remit): PFRDA/2020/44/SUP-CRA/17 dated October In order to facilitate the subscriber make regular 01, 2020 and circular no. PFRDA/2021/6/SUP- contributions at a low cost , PFRDA has introduced CRA/5 dated March 10, 2021. an additional option/mode of contribution Timeline : The minimum amount that can be namely Direct remittance (D-Remit) wherein contributed through D-Remit is Rs 500/- for both existing NPS subscribers under Government/ Tier I and Tier-II accounts. The funds received on Non-Government/ All citizen model would be T day upto 09:30 am on any bank working day able to deposit their voluntarily contributions by (other than Saturday, Sunday and Holidays) by creating a virtual id linked to their permanent Trustee Bank shall be considered for the same day retirement account number (PRAN). D-Remit has investment. The contribution received after 09:30 not only eased the mode of deposit of voluntary am on T day shall be invested on next working contribution but also optimized the investment day (i.e. T+1) day. return by providing the same day NAV on the investment if contribution is received by Trustee 90Annual Report | 2020-21 iv) Measure taken to protect subscriber’s interest: booked within the prescribed timelines. The following measures have been undertaken to ii. Missing credit- At times many Nodal improve the system in order to protect the interest Offices are not regular in remitting funds of subscribers:- timely. PFRDA has continuously taken up the matter of missing credits in the PRAN (a) Return of Inward remittances of the subscribers with the concerned Intimation about return of remittances to the organisations- PAOs, so that the subscribers respective Nodal Offices is sent through emails do not lose on investment opportunity as a as well as physical letters. Apart from reasons result of the delay. for rejection of the remittances, remedial action iii. Funds remitted with incomplete details- and precautions to be taken by the nodal office is Many Nodal Offices remitted funds to the provided to them to avoid repetition of the errors Trustee Bank without complete details like and avoid return. This ensures timely investment PAO id, Transaction Id, etc. These funds of the contribution made by subscribers. received by the Trustee Bank prior to May To reduce such fund return cases, a covering letter 2012, are lying unidentified for which has been devised which is generated along with Nodal Offices have neither provided Fund the SCF. The letter contains pre-populated fields Transfer Details (FTDs) nor uploaded SCFs. such as Tran ID, amount etc. which the Nodal PFRDA is continuously following it up with Officer is to authorize and submit to its accredited the Nodal offices for resolution of the same. banker for fund transfer to TB. iv. Return of Outward remittances by TB to Subscribers – The withdrawal funds v) Challenges faced by Trustee Bank in handling remitted by TB to the subscribers gets the funds returned due to various reasons, the i. Pending SCFs- Many Nodal Offices most important of these being Incorrect upload SCFs twice or do not remit funds bank details, Incorrect IFSC, mismatch in corresponding to these SCFs. PFRDA tries beneficiary name etc. its best to get these SCFs matched and Chart 3.3 : Data on Trustee Bank inflow and outflow 91PART III Daily Average Balance (in Crs.) - Trend services referred to in sub-clauses (i) to (iv); Presently, the Stock Holding Corporation of during FY 2020-21 India Limited (SHCIL) is acting as Custodian of Daily CRA CRA Total Securities. Average NSDL K-Fintech General obligations of Custodian of Securities Balance As per the Regulation no. 19 of the PFRDA Apr-20 401.38 4.67 406.05 (Custodian of Securities) Regulations, 2015, May-20 514.09 4.59 518.68 general obligations of Custodian of Securities are listed below: Jun-20 311.36 4.02 315.38 i) The custodian of securities shall exercise Jul-20 404.38 3.62 408.01 at all times reasonable care, prudence, Aug-20 396.70 4.81 401.51 professional skill and diligence while Sep-20 326.16 3.80 329.96 discharging its duties in the best interest of Jan-21 482.78 2.87 485.66 the subscribers. Oct-20 475.27 4.48 479.75 ii) The custodian of securities shall facilitate Nov-20 331.92 5.00 336.93 adequate infrastructure information Dec-20 526.97 9.12 536.08 technology, systems and procedures that Feb-21 513.72 7.56 521.28 are required for enabling it to co-ordinate Mar-21 545.63 14.73 560.36 with other intermediaries and entities and (Source : NSDL-CRA & K-Fintech-CRA) adapt to future changes including changes on account of technology advancements, 3.14.7 The Custodian under the National changes in system specifications and services Pension System and undertake functional obligations The Custodian of Securities under the National specified by the Authority. Pension System iii) The custodian of securities shall take Custodian of Securities” means an entity which all necessary precautions to ensure that has been granted a certificate of registration continuity of the record keeping is not lost under sub-section (3) of section 27 of the Act by or destroyed and that sufficient back up of the Authority as a custodian of securities for the records are available. purpose of providing custodial and depository iv) The custodian of securities shall ensure at participant services for the pension schemes all times that transactions in the pension regulated by the Authority; schemes accounts are put through according to the instructions of the pension fund or "Custodial services" means safekeeping of the National Pension System Trust and the securities or assets held under the National securities held in such accounts are used Pension System or any other pension scheme and only for transactions explicitly authorised providing services incidental thereto and includes- by the pension fund or the National Pension i. maintaining accounts of securities or assets System Trust. held; v) The custodian of securities shall ensure at ii. undertaking activities as a Domestic all times that, the securities held on behalf Depository in terms of the Depositories of the National Pension System Trust Act, 1996 (22 of 1996) or as permitted by the are separate and clearly segregated in its Securities and Exchange Board of India; books from its own holdings, other client iii. collecting the benefits or rights accruing on accounts and separated from all other the securities or assets; activities. The custodian of securities shall iv. informing about the actions taken or to be open a separate custody account for pension taken by the issuer of the securities, having schemes regulated by the Authority and in a bearing on the benefits or rights accruing accordance with the manner specified for on the securities or assets held; and registration of securities. v. maintaining and reconciling records of the vi) The custodian of securities shall ensure that 92Annual Report | 2020-21 all the rights or entitlements on the securities act of pledging, hypothecating or creating held in its custody for pension schemes or the any charge or lien on the said securities. National Pension System Trust are received The custodian of securities shall not convert on time and in the manner specified by the the securities in any manner without the Authority or the National Pension System approval of the Authority or the National Trust. Pension System Trust. vii) The custodian of securities shall ensure that xiv) The custodian of securities shall transmit the individual holdings of securities in the such reports and statements to the pension pension scheme accounts are reconciled with fund or the National Pension System the depository holdings and Constituents' Trust or the Authority or to such other Subsidiary General Ledger (CSGL) account intermediaries at such periodic intervals as at the end of the day. may be specified by the Authority from time viii) The custodian of securities shall be to time or as specified in the agreements continuously accountable for the movement xv) The custodian of securities shall maintain of securities in and out of the pension scheme proper books of accounts, registers, records, accounts and shall provide complete audit documents and have adequate mechanisms trail whenever called for by the Authority or for the purposes of reviewing, monitoring the National Pension System Trust. and evaluating the custodian’s controls, ix) The custodian of securities shall create and systems, procedures and safeguards. maintain the records of securities held in xvi) The custodian of securities shall have its its custody in such manner that the tracing books of accounts audited quarterly by of securities or obtaining duplicate of the an internal auditor and submit an extract documents is facilitated, in the event of loss thereof relating to the assets or business of of original records for any reason. the pension funds to the Authority or the x) The custodian of securities shall ensure National Pension System Trust, as specified, that the securities handled by it under the within thirty days from the date of audit. National Pension System or any pension xvii) The custodian of securities shall adhere to scheme regulated by the Authority are all applicable rules, regulations, circulars adequately insured. or guidelines framed, recommended, xi) The custodian of securities shall have mandated by any regulator, authority, adequate systems for internal controls to clearing corporation, exchange or depository prevent any manipulation of records and for various functions or services offerings to documents including audits for securities the National Pension System Trust. and rights or entitlements arising from Custodian Charges the securities held under this agreement. The Asset Servicing Charges were 0.0032 per cent The custodian of securities shall have per annum of asset under custody for electronic appropriate safekeeping measures to ensure and physical segment. that such securities (assets or documents) are protected from theft or natural hazard. 3.14.8 The National Pension System Trust xii) The custodian of securities shall not be entitled to setting off securities held in the (A) The NPS Trust was established in terms of the pension scheme accounts regulated by the Central Government letter D.O. No 5(75)/2006- Authority or otherwise deal with them to ECB & PR dated April 24, 2007. The NPS Trust extinguish partly or fully any amounts due Deed was executed by PFRDA place on February to it from the pension fund or the National 27, 2008 with PFRDA being the Settlor of the Trust. Pension System Trust without the prior The NPS Trust has been set up and constituted consent in writing from the Authority or the to hold the assets and funds under the NPS for National Pension System Trust. the benefit of the beneficiaries (subscribers). xiii) The custodian of securities shall not encumber the securities in any manner including by an Trustees have the legal ownership of the Trust 93PART III Fund, The general superintendence, direction & Shri. Sashi Krishnan is appointed as the Chief management of the affairs of the Trust , and all Executive Officer of NPS Trust, w.e.f. January 28, powers, authorities and discretions appurtenant to 2021. or incidental to the purpose of the Trust absolutely vest in the Trustees, subject nevertheless to the (B) Management of NPS Funds by the NPS provision of the PFRDA Act-2013, Indian Trust Trust Act – 1882, NPS Trust Deed and further subject to such directions or guidelines that may be issued by The NPS funds of subscribers held in the name PFRDA from time to time. However, the beneficial of NPS Trust are managed by seven appointed interest shall always vest with the beneficiaries of Pension Funds, on behalf of the Board of Trustees the NPS Trust. to realize and fulfil the objectives of the NPS Trust in the interest of the Subscribers. The performance Budget announcement regarding NPS Trust: As of the Pension Funds is reviewed on a quarterly per para 97 of the Budget Speech, 2020 “Regulating role of PFRDA requires strengthening. Necessary basis by NPS Trust, and instructions/guidance amendments would be carried out in Pension is given to them for protecting the interest of the Fund Regulatory Development Authority Act subscribers. that will also facilitate separation of NPS trust for government employees from PFRDA. This would (C) NPS Trust fee/charges also enable establishment of a Pension Trust by NPS Trust is empowered for monitoring, the employees other than Government.” Efforts evaluation and coordination of Pension Funds, are on at the highest levels to implement the above announcement. Trustee bank and Custodian on a regular basis and it is expected to be a self-sufficient entity with The constitution of the NPS Trust Board as on a regular stream of revenue. Hence, the levy of March 31, 2021 is provided in Table 3.41 fee/ charges by NPS Trust has been reviewed and accordingly the Board of PFRDA has decided to Table No. 3.42: The constitution of the NPS restart the fee/ charge @0.005 per cent per annum Trust Board as on March 31, 2021 of Asset Under Management (AUM) on a daily accrual basis w.e.f. August 1, 2019 as NPS Trust S. Name Designation No. may need certain amount of financial autonomy 1 Sh. Atanu Sen Chairman & whereby the Trust may have separate source Trustee Appointed of income through levy of fee/ charges from as Chairman with the subscribers for the services rendered, The effect from March quantum of fee/charges would be reviewed by 30, 2020 the Authority from time to time. 2 Sh. Dinesh Kumar Trustee Mehrotra (D) Engagement of Payment Gateway Service 3 Sh. Radhakrishnan Trustee Provider(s) (PGSPs) Nair 4 Sh Sanjeev Chanana Trustee Indialdeas.com Limited (Billdesk) and Razorpay 5 Sh. Suraj Bhan Trustee Software Pvt. Ltd. have been appointed as 6 Sh. Sanjiv Mittal Trustee Payment Gateway Service Provider(s) to NPS 7 Sh. Sudhir Kumar Trustee Trust on the basis after bidding process by NPS Sharma Trust for an initial period of three years, to begin 8. Shri Y Venkata Rao Trustee with effect from October 21, 2020 with following 9. Ms. Chitra Trustee Jayasimha charges: 94Annual Report | 2020-21 3.14.9 Retirement Adviser S.No. Mode of Method of Charges The Retirement Advisers (RAs) are appointed by Payment quotation PFRDA to engage in the activity of providing advice rate per on NPS thereby to extend the reach of NPS. The transaction RAs can be an individual, registered partnership 1. Credit Per cent of 0.75 per firm, body corporate, or any registered Trust Cards transaction cent or society. There is online platform to facilitate value registration of an individual/entity as RA. 2. Debit Free N/A Retirement advisors are playing an important Cards role in guiding and helping consumers to have 3. Internet Flat rate in 0 a better understanding of investment and pay- Banking INR out options. Taking into account international 4. UPI Free N/A experience and the needs of the Indian system of organised and unorganised workers, with a view The transaction charges quoted above include fees to protecting the interests of retiring population towards providing the online payment service and more importantly, for minimising risks of to NPS Trust (complete jurisdiction is of NPS losses arising out of deficient understanding Trust). This transaction charge is inclusive of all of the various options in the returns from the local taxes, income tax, insurance, bank charges, NPS, PFRDA has accredited National Institute payment channel charges etc., but exclusive of of Securities Markets (NISM) as the accredited GST which shall be paid by the user as extra at institute for Certification of the Retirement actuals during the time of making payment/ Adviser Certification Examination. transaction. Except quoted as above and GST at actuals, no other charges whatsoever shall be With the objective to provide a framework levied from subscribers/users of NPS Trust. for eligibility, registration process, fees etc. of Penalty : In case of delay in transfer of funds Retirement Adviser and to define the scope of beyond the timeliness, the PGSP shall make good work and responsibility of the Retirement Adviser the loss to the subscriber, if any , on account to ensure orderly growth of pension sector, of delay in investment which is NAV based Pension Fund Regulatory and Development (as per calculation made by CRA, based on the Authority (Retirement Adviser) Regulations, 2016 fluctuation in NAV between actual investment were notified by PFRDA. and the investment day as per the timelines. This would be subject to minimum compensation at 3.14.10 Other functions carried out by the the rate of bank rate plus 2 per cent per annum on Authority in the area of pensions. the amount invested for each day of the delay from i) Implementation of Cyber Security the supposed day of investment). Any positive PFRDA has constituted a Standing Committee on fluctuation due to delay in investment, benefitting Information, Systems & Technology and Cyber the subscriber would be ignored. Security in May 2019. The Committee was be Timelines : The subscription collected from guided by the extant cyber security policy of the successful transactions will be pooled by PFRDA for its intermediaries and is advised the payment gateway service provider and the to formulate PFRDA's own policy . PFRDA funds would be made available to NPS Trust not has re-constituted a Standing Committee on later than T+1 day by 10.30 AM (T - being the Information, Systems & Technology and Cyber Transaction day) of the payment by the subscriber, Security (IST&CS) and renamed as “Pension post reconciliation and aggregation, into the Fintech Innovation & Development, Information designated collection account of NPS Trust . This Infrastructure and Cyber Security” with a view to account would be maintained with the Trustee keep an eye on rapid technological changes and bank appointed by PFRDA. 95PART III cyber risk, its effect on the financial sector in order Information and Cyber Security in Pension Sector to safeguard the subscribers’ interest. in the IOPS Technical Committee and member countries.. Standing Committee will advise on Information Systems, Technology & cyber security issues, Cyber / IT Audit: Cyber Security Audit reports development of Management Information of iintermediaries of PFRDA were reviewed to Systems (MIS), Supervisory and Regulatory ensure maximum protection to NPS against Cyber platforms, new opportunities and challenges of threats. Financial Technologies, Regulatory Technologies, Disaster Recovery Drills of the CRA’s has increased strengthen the processes of cyber security/ the resilience capability of CRA systems based on system/information security audit of PFRDA and the periodic advisory from PFRDA. intermediaries under the NPS architecture. PFRDA also participated in the various cyber There is Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), security related committees such as Inter to manage all IT and Cyber issues within PFRDA Ministerial Steering Committee (IMSC) provided and to coordinate with the intermediaries and technology inputs for improving the financial other agencies like CERT-In, NCIIPC on matters sector on Emerging technologies such as Block related to cyber security. Chain, IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Machine PFRDA has also created two new departments for Learning, FinTech, SupTech, RegTech etc., Information and Cyber Security i.e., Information Presentation has been given for Five years and Cyber Security – Internal and Information National Cyber Security Strategy – 2020 with 13 and Cyber Security – External, to manage all cyber security related objectives for Improving Information and Cyber Security related to both the cyber security in Financial Sector and other Internal and External Cyber Security Policies, sectors. It has been accepted for implementation Issues in NPS architecture. also. Technological inputs such as Use of Emerging ii) Fin-Tech through Regulatory Sandbox Technologies, Data Analytics, Infrastructure, AI/ ML, Chatbots, Fraud Analytics etc., in preparation There has been tremendous change in the financial of the RFP for Central Recordkeeping Agency sector due to technological advancements and (CRA), Technical Evaluation and Technical innovations. Regulatory sandbox approach could Presentation evaluation for selecting best of the be utilised to experiment upcoming technologies CRA solution provider. and solutions in order to promote the development of Financial Technology (Fin Tech) for the pension Monitored and reviewed Information Cyber sector in a safe and controlled environment. Security Compliance, to ensure that the compliance Accordingly, PFRDA has constituted a Group of Cyber Security Policy of the Intermediaries with representative from ReBIT, PFRDA, NPCI and Quarterly Compliance. It has been improved & NSDL to identify areas under NPS which performance and security posture of the NPS could utilize financial technologies (Fin-Tech) systems. through Regulatory Sandbox. The committee has submitted its report. This issue is under Identification and Assessment of CRA as the development. Recently a group has also been National Critical Information Infrastructure in formed under FSDC sub-committee namely IRTG- PFRDA regulated NPS System. Fintech group where PFRDA is also a part of the A presentation was given by PFRDA on group and this matter is under deliberation. 96Annual Report | 2020-21 PART IV • Designing Minimum Assured Return 4.1 Pension Advisory Committee Scheme (MARS) under PFRDA Act. Section 45 of PFRDA Act provides for constitution of a Pension Advisory Committee with • Increasing the joining age in NPS from 65 representations from employees, associations, years to 70 years and extending the exit age subscribers, commerce & industry, intermediaries from 70 years to 75 years. and organizations engaged in pension research 4.2 Regulations Made or Amended to advise the Authority on matter relating to the The information pertaining to Regulatory making of regulations or as may be referred to development during FY 2020-21 is as under: it. During the year under reference, the Pension Advisory Committee was reconstituted vide 1. New Regulations notified during FY 2020- Gazette notification date 16th September 2021 21: NIL (Annexure-I) and the fourteenth and fifteenth 2. Amendments to the Regulations during FY Pension Advisory Committee Meeting were held 2020-21 on December 29, 2020 and March 26, 2021 at New Following amendments have been notified during Delhi. April 2020 - March 2021: The following agenda items were taken up for discussion in fourteenth Meeting of the PAC held Table No. 4.1: Amendments on December 29, 2020: S. Amendment Date of • Minutes of 13th PAC Meeting. No. Gazette • ATR on Minutes of 13th PAC Meeting. Notification • Regulations for Regulatory Sandbox. 1. Pension Fund Regulatory September • Proposed Amendment in PFRDA (PoP) and Development 29, 2020 Regulations, 2018 Proposal on alternate Authority (Exits and payout mechanisms on exit from NPS. Withdrawals Under • Proposal on expansion of distribution the National Pension channels in NPS. System) (Amendment) • Designing Minimum Assured Return Regulations, 2020 Scheme (MARS) under PFRDA Act. 2. Pension Fund Regulatory July 29, 2020 • Exit through Self-authorization by e-NPS and Development subscribers. Authority (Central • Measures taken by PFRDA for NPS/APY Record Keeping Agency) outreach. (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2020 The following agenda items were taken up for discussion in fifteenth Meeting of the PAC held 3. Pension Fund Regulatory July 29, 2020 on March 26, 2021: and Development Authority (National • Minutes of 14th PAC Meeting. Pension System Trust) • ATR on Minutes of 14th PAC Meeting. (Second Amendment) Regulations, 2020 • Proposal for exploring the feasibility towards upward revision of the limits for allowing 4. PFRDA (Pension Fund) May 14, 2020 Exit without annuitisation (complete lump- (Third Amendment) sum). Regulations, 2020 97Part IV 4.3 Constitution of Committee for utilization of 4.4 Standing Committee on Information Subscriber Education and Protection Fund Technology and Cyber Security in PFRDA As per Section 6 of PFRDA (Subscriber Education PFRDA has constituted a Standing Committee on and Protection Fund), Regulations, 2015 a Information, Systems & Technology and Cyber committee was re-constituted on March 25, 2019 for Security in August 2018 with a view to keep an eye on rapid technological change and its effect recommending subscriber education, awareness on the financial sector in order to safeguard the and protection activities and for utilization of the subscribers’ interest. The terms of reference of Fund. The Committee shall recommend utilization the said committee are to advise on Information of funds for subscribers’ education, awareness Systems, Technology & cyber security issues, and protection. development of Management Information The committee may recommend projects and Systems (MIS), Supervisory and Regulatory platforms, new opportunities and challenges of initiatives in association with various institutions, Financial Technologies, Regulatory Technologies, associations and organization etc. which are strengthen the processes of cyber security/ engaged in activities, related to subscriber system/information security audit of PFRDA and awareness, education and protection. intermediaries under the NPS architecture. 98Annual Report | 2020-21 PART V Organizational Matters of the Pension Fund from November 3, 2017 till date. Regulatory and Development Authority 5.2 Meetings of the Authority Nine Meetings of the Authority were held during 5.1 Constitution of PFRDA Board Financial Year 2020-21. Section 4 of the PFRDA Act provides for the composition of the Authority consisting of a Table No. 5.1 Authority Meetings held in Chairperson, three whole time members; and three FY 2020-21: part-time members to be appointed by the Central Govt. As on March 31, 2021, the composition of Authority Meeting Held on the Authority is as under: 86th Authority June 10, 2020 Meeting (Wednesday) (i) Chairperson 87th Authority By Circulation- July 13, Shri Supratim Bandyopadhyay is the Meeting 2020 (Monday) Chairperson. He joined PFRDA as 88th Authority August 27, 2020 Chairperson on February 21, 2020. Prior to Meeting (Thursday) this, he was Whole Time Member (Finance)- PFRDA from March 12, 2018 to January 89th Authority By Circulation- 16, 2020. Prior to joining PFRDA, he has Meeting September 28, 2020 spent almost three and a half decades in the (Monday) Insurance industry after joining LIC in the 90th Authority November 27, 2020 year 1985. Meeting (Friday) (ii) Whole-Time Members 91st Authority By Circulation 1. Shri Pramod Kumar Singh, Whole- Meeting - December 2, Time Member (Law) from March 3, 2020(Wednesday) 2020 till date. 92nd Authority By Circulation- 2. Dr. Deepak Mohanty, Whole-Time Meeting December 17 2020 Member (Economics) from September (Thursday) 1, 2020 till date. 93rd Authority By Circulation- January 3. Dr. Manoj Anand, Whole-Time Meeting 25, 2021 (Monday) Member (Finance) from October 1, 94th Authority March 2, 2021 (Tuesday) 2020 till date. Meeting (iii) Part-Time Members 1. Ms. Annie George Mathew (IA & AS 5.3 Staff Strength in PFRDA. 1988), Additional Secretary (Pers), As on March 31, 2021, the regular staff strength of Department of Expenditure from PFRDA is Sixty (60) out of which Fifty-Eight (58) December 12, 2014 till date. are in officer cadre, one (01) Junior Assistant & 2. Ms. Sujata Chaturvedi (IAS 1989), one (01) Staff Car Driver. Out of sixty (60), seven Additional Secretary (in-charge of (07) of its officers are presently reporting to C.E.O, Establishment Division), Department NPS Trust, till the regular staff is deployed in NPS of Personnel & Training (DoPT) from Trust. January 16, 2020 till date. 5.4 Functioning of SC/ST Cell and OBC Cell 3. Shri Madnesh Kumar Mishra (IRS in PFRDA. 1990), Joint Secretary, Department of To implement Government instructions on welfare Financial Services, Ministry of Finance of SC/ST/PWD employees, a cell has been set up 99Part V in PFRDA. A General Manager grade officer has 10. Introduction to Ratio Analysis for Credit been nominated as Liaison Officer for SCs/STs/ Risk Assessment, PWDs. Further, a separate cell for welfare of OBCs 11. Securitisation concepts and CRISIL’s has been set up. A Deputy General Manager grade framework for assessing securitisation officer has been nominated as Liaison Officer for issuances, OBCs. Members of both the Cell meet with their 12. Online Training Programme on Cyber respective Liaison Officers on quarterly basis to Security, discuss welfare measures related to them. 13. Online Programme on Domestic Enquiries and Disciplinary Actions, 5.5 Committee for Prevention of Sexual 14. Organizational Excellence Through Harassment at Workplace. Leadership, A Committee for prevention of Sexual Harassment at workplace is in place for receiving complaints, 15. Artificial Intelligence for Digital holding enquiry etc. in accordance with the Sexual Transformation, Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, 16. Online Training Program on Bond Dealings Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 and meets on (Focus: Trading and Portfolio Management), quarterly basis. 17. Fixed Income Market Trends and risk management in times of pandemic – Virtual 5.6 Staff Welfare Committee training, A Staff Welfare Committee has been constituted 18. Credit Ratings – Demystified: How to make in PFRDA to identify and organize various staff fullest use of it, welfare activities. The Committee will help evolve 19. Induction Training for Assistant Managers, measures for securing and preserving good Programme on Hindi Training. relations amongst the employees and also between A total of 46 employees have received trainings employees and the management. A General across above mentioned subjects during the Manager grade officer has been nominated as FY2020-21. Chairperson of the Staff Welfare Committee. 5.8 Promotion of Official Language 5.7 Training of employees in PFRDA 1. Rajbhasha Department is committed to During the financial year 2020-21, officers were promote the use of official language in all official’s nominated by PFRDA for trainings/workshops communication of PFRDA as per official language on various subject areas like: policy of Department of Official language, Ministry 1. Risk Management for Investment Managers of Home Affairs, Government of India. During Program, FY 2020-21, appropriate steps were initiated for implementation of the official language in PFRDA 2. Leading with Purpose, to ensure compliance with various requirements 3. Investment and Fund Management of Department of Official language. A summary of Program, such initiatives is given below: 4. Leadership Excellence: An Alternate Approach, i. Implementation and monitoring of the Official Language Policy and rules of 5. Financial Statement Analysis, Department of Official language, Ministry 6. Corporate Financial Reporting, of Home Affairs, Government of India in 7. Online programme on Investment and PFRDA and circulate the Presidential Orders Portfolio Management, regarding the Official Language, general 8. Leading Innovation in the Digital Era, orders, executive instructions/directions 9. Understanding Insolvency and Bankruptcy issued from time to time. Code, ii. Conducting regularly quarterly Official 100Annual Report | 2020-21 Language Implementation Committee such as public notice, circulars regulations etc. (OLIC) meetings and identifying the areas 4. Rajbhasha Meetings to achieve the greater use of Hindi in office During the year, meetings of the Official Language notings and correspondences. Implementation Committee were conducted to iii. Undertaking Hindi translation work from ensure compliance with the Official Language English to Hindi of officials correspondences, Policy of the Department of Official language, Regulations, Circulars, Officer Orders etc. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. iv. Organizing Hindi workshop on Rajbhasha During FY 2020-21, several important decisions related topics from external trainer proficient were taken towards implementation of the Official in Hindi language. Language Policy of the Government of India. v. Organizing Hindi fortnight and Hindi 5. Hindi Diwas Samaroh Diwas. During FY 2020-21, an essay writing competition vi. Coordination and support for conducting was organized which aimed at encouraging Official Language Inspection by the the use of Hindi by the staff members in their Committee of Parliament on Official day-to-day official work. During the Samaroh, Language and Department of Official as a token of appreciation, all the winners were language, Ministry of Home Affairs. awarded with cash prize and all the participants vii. Guiding and promoting staff for progressive was also given certificates. Considering the use of Hindi. importance of the official Hindi language , the viii. Organizing Hindi essay competition on Chairman, WTMs and the Executive Directors occasion of Hindi Diwas for progressive use were also present on the occasion, and they of Hindi in office communications. encouraged all the winners and participants of the ix. Submission of inspection report and competitions. quarterly progress reports on Official 6. Training for Officers Language work in website of Department of As part of efforts to increase the use of Hindi and official language. to make them aware the various requirements x. Assistance/Guidance to staff for Rajbhasha related to the Official Language Policy of the activities including organization of refresher Government of India, training programmes were Training for Hindi Language according to organized for staff members according to their their proficiency. proficiency in Hindi so that they may use Hindi in xi. Publication of Hindi article in PFRDA their day-to-day official work and ensure timely “Pension Bulletin”. implementation of the Policy while discharging their duties. xii. Sensitizing the staff towards achieving the targets as mentioned in Annual Programme 7. Hindi Workshops of the Department of Official Language. During the year, a workshop was organized for all officials of PFRDA to make them aware of the basic 2. During FY 2020-21, all efforts was made to use of Hindi and rules for making correspondences issue the regulations, notifications, public notices, in Hindi. An official from Department of official certificate of registration, advertisement, advisory language, Ministry of Home Affairs was called for in both English and Hindi towards implementation the workshop. of the Official Language Policy. 8. Inspection conducted by Department of 3. Hindi Website Official language, Ministry of Home Affairs: Towards the implementation of the Official Language Policy of the Department of official An inspection was conducted by Department of language, Government of India, PFRDA is in the Official language, Ministry of Home Affairs. The process of revamping its Hindi website and all following points advised during the inspection efforts are being made to put information in Hindi by the Inspecting Officer are being implemented by the Authority. 101Part V i. A dedicated Hindi officer would be recruited under NPS, APY scheme etc. All the applications shortly. and appeals were replied/disposed of within ii. Codes, manuals, name boards, sign boards, the stipulated time as prescribed under RTI Act, seals, logos, printing on envelopes, rubber 2005. Section 4 of the RTI Act casts an obligation stamps, stationery, advertisements etc. have on every public authority to make certain suo- been made bilingual. moto disclosures on its website. PFRDA has also made such suo-moto disclosures on its website. iii. All office orders are being made in Hindi The focus of the disclosure is to improve the level and in English (Bilingual) by the authority. of transparency in the working and functioning iv. Letters received from region 'A' and region of PFRDA. In this regard, information regarding 'B' are being answered in Hindi. various functions, powers and duties of PFRDA v. PFRDA is in the process of registering & its officers etc. has been provided on PFRDA’s with the Department of Official Language, website. Further, the PFRDA Act, rules and Ministry of Home Affairs. regulations made there under, circulars and vi. Hindi language training should be organized manuals issued by PFRDA are also available on for all the officers. the website. 9. Logo of PFRDA 5.10 Parliamentary Questions The logo of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority has been made bilingual During the financial year 2020-21, PFRDA received and the logo of the National Pension System (NPS) around 35 Parliamentary Questions referred by the has also been made bilingual as per the provisions Government of India, mainly from the Ministry of the Official Language Act. of Finance on various aspects related to the old age income security comprising queries on NPS and APY. PFRDA has furnished information and 5.9 Right to Information: material for replies in a time bound manner for There is a dedicated cell in PFRDA to implement facilitating replies to the same to the Parliament. the Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act). This Cell processes the applications received under 5.11 Others the Right to Information Act, 2005 and works under Central Public Information Officer (CPIO). Violation of PFRDA Act, 2013 and PFRDA (Point of As required under the RTI Act, PFRDA has Presence) Regulations by UTI AMC-POP has been designated an officer as the Appellate Authority reported to E&A Dept. in the matter of fraudulent (AA) with whom the appeals can be filed against withdrawal cases. Adjudicating Officer was an order of the CPIO. appointed by E&A Dept. for holding an inquiry, adjudging and recommending penalty. As per RTI Act, any citizen can seek information under RTI by making an appropriate application 5.12 Accounts of PFRDA in writing along-with the prescribed fees to During the financial year (FY) 2020-21, PFRDA met the Central Public Information Officer, Pension all its administrative and establishment expenses Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, through its own resources. First Floor, Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhawan, B-14/A, Qutab Institutional Area, New Delhi 110016 and/ PFRDA received grant from Govt of India or can also file an RTI under RTI Act, 2005 on towards Atal Pension Yojana only. The Atal Online Portal available at www.pfrda.org.in. Pension Yojna (APY) was announced in the budget speech for the FY 2015-16. This pension During the financial year 2020-21, 742 RTI scheme is meant for all citizens in the age group Applications and 40 First Appeals were received of 18-40 years, with a focus on persons belonging inter-alia regarding contribution under National to unorganized sector. All subscribers under NPS- Pension System (NPS), opening of individual lite/Swavalamban between the age of 18-40 years pension account, transfer, withdrawal & exit are eligible to shift to Atal Pension Yojana. During 102Annual Report | 2020-21 the FY 2020-21, PFRDA has received a grant of Rs. approved by the Board in its 97th Board meeting 273.00 crores under APY towards Government co- held on 30.06.2021. In accordance with the contribution, incentive to service providers and provisions of the PFRDA Act, 2013, the same have other promotional activities. been audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (C&AG). The annual statement of accounts of the Authority consisting of Balance Sheet as on 31.03.2021, The Separate Audit report of the C&AG on the Income & Expenditure A/c and Receipt & Payment accounts of the Authority for the year ended A/c for the period 01.04.2020 to 31.03.2021, along 31.03.2021, and the comments of the Authority with the schedules have been finalized as per are attached to the certified annual statement the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development of accounts of the Authority along with the Authority (Form of Annual Statement of Accounts Schedules, and are placed at Appendix Annexure and Records) Rules, 2015. These accounts were III 103Part VI PART VI Any critical area adversely affecting the interest of subscribers 6. Some of the area affecting the interest of 6.3 Statutory obligations that the Authority the subscribers are as below: has not complied 6.1 Absence of an enabling regulation 6.3.1 Minimum Assured Returns Scheme precludes the Government nodal officers (MARS) • Absence of an enabling regulation precludes Under sub-section 2(d)(b) of Section 20 of PFRDA the Government nodal officers (CG, SG and Act, the subscriber seeking minimum assured Autonomous nodal offices) from being returns shall have an option to invest his funds in considered as intermediary as per PFRDA such schemes providing minimum assured returns Act 2013 and hence they remain outside as may be notified by the Authority. However, the purview of the penalty provision sub-section 2(g) of Sec 20 states that there shall not provided under Section 28 of the PFRDA be any implicit or explicit assurance of benefits Act 2013. Further, it is mentioned that the except market-based guarantee mechanism CCS (Implementation of National Pension to be purchased by the subscriber. Efforts are System) Rules, 2021 as notified by DoPPW underway to formulate a feasible MAR Scheme vide notification dated 30.03.2021, lays down in consultation with the Pension Funds and other the General conditions of Implementation of stakeholders by overcoming the challenges faced NPS under CG sector. The said rules, inter for quantum of assured returns (capital protection alia mandates adherence to timelines related or market-based returns) to be offered, guarantee to various NPS activities and also that the providers and their solvency requirements, responsibility in case of delays is retained guarantee fees, lock-in period, etc. Request for with Head of Department. Proposal for Appointment of Consultant to • Operational guidelines to be issued for Design Minimum Assured Return Scheme under PoPs under APY specifying TATs to ensure National Pension System was floated on August 6, the timely services to APY subscribers are 2021. The matter is under development. provided by PoPs. 6.2 Age limit of 40 years for joining APY 6.4 Taxation on employer contribution beyond 10% of salary NPS Lite/Swavalamban which was started for Central Government vide notification F. No. unprivileged unorganised sector workers has 1/3/2016-PR dated January 31, 2019 has increased been discontinued from w.e.f. April 2015. In place the employer contribution towards NPS for their of NPS Lite/Swavalamban scheme, Atal Pension employees from 10% to 14% w.e.f April 1, 2019. To Yojana (APY) was launched which provides provide tax exemption on the increased employer guaranteed benefits to the underlying subscribers. contribution for Central Government employees, Subscribers of NPS Lite scheme have been given option to migrate to APY. However, APY scheme Sec 80CCD (2) was amended accordingly vide the allows entry of subscribers from 18 years to 40 Finance (No. 2) Act, 2019 (No. 23 of 2019). years. Accordingly, potential subscribers beyond Since the amended provision provides deduction 40 years of age who are currently generating of 14 per cent on employer’s NPS contribution only income are unable to join Atal Pension Yojana. for Central Government employees. For any other Therefore, to make the scheme available to these employer, the increased employer contribution people, the age of eligibility may be considered for of 4 per cent would be taxable perquisite in the increase from 40 years to at least 50 years. hands of respective employee. 104Annual Report | 2020-21 Further, contribution made by employer towards NPS account is notional until realized and may employees’ NPS account is allowed as a business not be preferable. expense for the employer u/s 36(i)(iva) of the 6.6 Tier-II Tax Saver with tax benefit of 80C Income Tax Act. Since the current permissible restricted for Central Govt. employees deduction limit is 10 per cent of salary (Basic+DA) The Government has notified National Pension of the employee, employers may be reluctant to Scheme Tier II- Tax Saver Scheme, 2020 which is increase their contribution to 14 per cent. available only for Central Government employees. Contribution made to this scheme is eligible for 6.5 Cap on employer contribution for tax deduction (u/s 80C of Income Tax Act) with calculating taxable perquisite a lock-in period of 3 years. This benefit is not The employer contribution in NPS was tax available for any other NPS subscriber other than exempted for employees without any monitory Central Government employees. ceiling. With effect from, 1st April 2020, the aggregate employer contributions made 6.7 Taxation on gains arises on Tier-II towards Recognized Provident Fund, Approved investment Superannuation Fund and NPS in excess of Rs. 7.5 The investment pattern/asset allocation under lakh will be treated as taxable perquisite for the NPS Tier II account is same as Tier-I account and respective employee, as per section 17(2)(vii) of contributions are invested in Equity, Corporate the Income Tax Act (as amended vide the Finance Bonds and Government Securities. There is no Act 2020). special tax treatment stipulated for Tier-II account Further, the annual accretion on such excess and gains arising at the point of withdrawals contribution would also be treated as taxable are subject to tax at applicable marginal rates perquisite as per section 17(2)(viia) of income thereby making Tier-II less appealing. The gains Tax Act. Since NPS is a market linked pension from National Pension Scheme Tier II- Tax Saver scheme, gain/loss depicted in an individual’s Scheme, 2020 investments would also be taxable at applicable rates in the hands of the subscribers. 105Part VII PART VII Any other measure taken by the Authority to protect the interest of subscribers to the National Pension System and other pension schemes under the Act. 7.1 In addition to the steps mentioned in SAB and SGs, at their own volition without previous paras, some other initiatives taken concurrent approval of PFRDA. by the Authority to protect the interest of the • Advisory on Digital Safety Practices to be subscribers are as below. followed by Govt Nodal offices to access CRA system under NPS architecture - Advising • Various new initiatives were undertaken, the nodal offices towards adopting safety guidelines were issued in the form of practices in respect of usage, non-sharing circulars by the PFRDA to protect the interest and safe-keeping of login credentials of the of subscribers. Also, necessary amendments CRA system. to Regulations were carried out based on the • Ease in issuance of Annuity to NPS requirements and feedback received from subscribers - Advising the availability of stakeholders online based system and functionality for the • Registration, Empanelment and Renewals Government nodal offices for expeditious of empanelment of POPs were undertaken exit/withdrawal processing and issuance of in order to have smooth outsourcing of annuity. Accounts . • Advisory on Regular NPS contribution - • Issuance of circular dated March 30, 2020 for Advising the Government nodal offices all Pension Funds, Custodian, and NPS Trust towards following the credit contribution on extension of time limit by one month (i.e. timelines as advised under the Controller upto June 30, 2020) for submission of annual General of Accounts (CGA) OM dated accounts and other annual MIS due to Covid September 2,2008. -19. • Dashboard updation of contact details of • Authority regularly advises NPS Trust on Nodal officers - Advising the nodal offices the deviations reported by POPs for delay towards updating the contact credentials in in prescribed activities under operational the NPS system guidelines and the payment of compensation • Transfer of Legacy Funds of NPS Subscribers to subscribers by POPs on account of such of Government Sectors (SGs/ CABs/ SABs) delays. pursuant to opening of choice of investment • To ensure timely registration of subscriber’s schemes and Pension Funds- Advising the under NPS, the Govt Nodal offices under nodal offices that post moving out of the default CG/SG sector were advised to adopt OPGM investment pattern by a subscriber of SGF/SAB/ (Online PRAN Generation Module) to CAB, the legacy accumulated corpus available in eliminate delay in PRAN generation as well the PRAN of such subscriber would be transfer as rejection of subscriber registration forms. to the selected investment scheme and PF. • To adopt STS (Server to Server) integration • Nodal offices under CG and SG have been of the nodal offices’ financial software advised to strictly comply with the timelines package with CRA system. prescribed by DoE for completion of various • Choice of pension fund & investment pattern NPS related activities with respect to credit in Tier I of NPS for the Govt subscribers contribution. employed with SG SABs CG & CABs - • The oversight offices like PrAOs/DTAs Advising the opening up and availability of were advised to review performance of their functionality for choice of PF and investment underlying PAOs / DTOs and ensure that pattern in Tier I for the employees of CAB, the NPS related activities are completed in a 106Annual Report | 2020-21 time bound manner. • Choice of Investment and PFs- Govt sector • State Governments were advised to consider subscribers can exercise choice of investment providing individual choices to State Govts and select PFs employees-subscriber for Pension Fund and • OTP based Authentication for legacy NPS Investment pattern under NPS in reference accounts- To alleviate the difficulties of to gazette notification dated 31.01.19 issued NPS Subscribers who have opened their by DFS. NPS Accounts during Covid-19 pandemic • Offline Aadhar KYC for On-boarding- induced lock down but could not submit Ease on on-boarding and instant PRAN physical applications to CRA. generation • Withdrawal process - The relaxation was • ePRAN card for NPS Subscribers - given to nodal offices/POPs for accepting Now the Subscribers have to pay much less the scanned /self-certified images of exit for Account opening and it is easy to handle. documents through digital means to process • Introducing OTP based authentication the withdrawal request of NPS. by Subscribers - Paperless on boarding of • Partial Withdrawal allowed for covid related subscribers to ease the operation. medical treatment - Partial withdrawal • Online Aadhaar e-KYC - PFRDA's proposal guidelines modified to include covid related approved by UIDAI to offer online e-KYC ailments. verification to one of the CRAs. This is another step on boarding of subscribers • Continuation of PRAN in case of premature to ease the operation and enhance the exit where only lump sum is paid. convenience of subscriber. • Option for partly exited NPS Subscribers to • D-Remit (Direct Remittance) - Same day continue the same PRAN. NAV and Facility of auto debit to NPS • Ease Annuity issuance for NPS subscribers Subscribers. Delay in processing the on single KYC- KYC and Withdrawal contribution is cut down by two days. documents uploaded by nodal officers • NACH based debit - Automated debit suffice to issue annuity by Annuity Service through NACH e-mandate introduced on Providers (ASP). pilot basis. The process initiated in FY 2020- • Instant Bank Account verification- Instant 21 and would be rolled out in FY 2021 22. Bank Account verification through Penny • E-nomination facility through e sign - drop to avoid return of funds and check the Online nomination/updation of nominees beneficiary details on real time basis. in a paperless manner • e-NPS Subscribers exit- The online e-NPS • Ombudsman for NPS/APY- FAQ published exit functionality built in coordination with for the benefit of Subscribers and wide Banks awareness created about the services of Ombudsman. • Development of online system for filing • Annuity Literacy Programs (ALPs) - For appeal with ombudsman and Release of creating awareness on Annuity among FAQs on Ombudsman retiring NPS Subscribers. The program held List of Annexure jointly with Annuity Service Providers, Nodal Officers of Govt and CRAs. Annexure I • Annuity Calculator - Revamped Annuity Composition of Pension Advisory Committee Calculator for better transmission of annuity (PAC) and issues discussed during PAC meetings rates/ information to NPS Subscribers. Annexure II • Compliance certificate for ASPs Half State-wise total no. of POP-SPs. yearly compliance certificate being submitted Annexure III by ASPs for enhanced Subscribers service. Annual statement of accounts of the Authority • NPS Tax Saver account- Enables tax saving along with the Schedules by subscribers of Central Govt Sector 107Annexure I Annexure I Composition of Pension Advisory Committee 1. Chief General Manager, Government National Institute of Public Finance and Business Unit, State Bank of India, New Policy (NIPFP) Delhi 12. Shri Kulin Patel, Senior Actuary and 2. Managing Director & CEO, NSDL Director – Client Account Management, e-Governance Infrastructure Ltd Towers Watson, Gurgaon 3. Executive Director (Retail Banking), Axis 13. President, Institute of Actuaries of India Bank 14. Chief Executive Officer Fixed Income Money 4. Deputy Controller General of Accounts Market and Derivatives Association of India (Technical Advice), Department of 15. Deputy Secretary (Establishment II), Expenditure, Ministry of Finance Department of Personnel & Training 5. Chief Executive Officer & Whole Time 16. Director (A/Cs), Department of Posts, New Director, UTI Retirement Solutions Ltd. Delhi 6. Chief Executive Officer, HDFC Pension 17. Shri Rajiv Kapoor, Executive Director Management Company Ltd. – Group HRM Minda Industries Ltd. 7. Vice President and Head Custodial Services, representing CII Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd. 18. Chief Executive-Indian Banks’ Association 8. Shri Dinesh Pant, Appointed Actuary Life 19. Director, Budget, Department of Finance, Insurance Corporation of India Bhopal, Government of Madhya Pradesh 9. Chairman, NPS Trust The Chairperson and the Members of the Authority 10. Director, National Institute of Bank are the ex officio Chairperson and ex officio Management, Pune members of the Pension Advisory Committee. 11. Dr. Renuka Sane, Associate Professor, 108Annual Report | 2020-21 Annexure II State wise total no. of POP-SPs S.No State Name 2020 2021 1 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 131 134 2 Andhra Pradesh 15,603 15,796 3 Arunachal Pradesh 377 385 4 Assam 5,899 5,952 5 Bihar 13,205 13,429 6 Chandigarh 520 526 7 Chhattisgarh 4,854 5,029 8 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 115 126 9 Goa 892 913 10 Gujarat 13,633 14,277 11 Haryana 6,246 6,730 12 Himachal Pradesh 3,140 3,164 13 Jammu & Kashmir 2,119 2,133 14 Jharkhand 4,207 4,295 15 Karnataka 14,985 15,613 16 Kerala 10,686 10,916 17 Lakshadweep 11 11 18 Madhya Pradesh 13,284 13,457 19 Maharashtra 24,768 25,207 20 Manipur 244 252 21 Meghalaya 488 544 22 Mizoram 225 235 23 Nagaland 238 247 24 Nct of Delhi (New Delhi) 4,448 5,218 25 Odisha 10,519 10,653 26 Puducherry 314 317 27 Punjab 9,908 10,019 28 Rajasthan 10,710 10,868 29 Sikkim 140 145 30 Tamil Nadu 16,237 16,467 31 Telangana 5,493 5,703 32 Tripura 646 651 33 Uttarakhand 2,875 2,937 34 Uttar Pradesh 29,653 30,025 35 West Bengal 14,890 14,880 Total (All India) 2,38,411 247,254 Note: List includes data of CRA-NSDL and exclusive POP-SPs registered under Kfintech-CRA. 109Annexure III Annexure III 110Annual Report | 2020-21 111Annexure III 112Annual Report | 2020-21 113Annexure III PFRDA Comments to the Separate Audit Report For Point A.1.1 and Point B.1 of SAR and Point B of Annexure to SAR: It is pertinent to mention that the PFRDA (Forms of Annual Statement of Accounts and Records) Rules, 2015 (‘Rules’) have been notified by Central Government inferring powers under clause (h) of subsection (2) of Section 51 read with subsection (1) of Section 42 of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013 (23 of 2013), in consultation with the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (C&AG). The Forms and schedules of Annual Accounts are prescribed under the above mentioned Rules in which the expenditure under Swavalamban scheme is shown under the Schedule 21 i.e Other administrative expenses. Similarly, Grant/Subsidies received are shown under the Schedule 13 (Grant/Subsidiaries) which is a part of Income and expenditure account. Accordingly, the Grant and expenditure under Swavalamban and APY scheme are considered as income and expenditure in the books of accounts of PFRDA. This treatment is in accordance with the above mentioned ‘Rules’. Further, with reference to the internal control system regarding booking of grants received for specific purpose, it is mentioned that PFRDA maintains separate records, ledgers and bank accounts in respect of Government grants. Hence, the internal control system in place are adequate. 114Annual Report | 2020-21 FORM A [See Rule 3(a)] PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY BALANCE SHEET AS ON 31-03-2021 (Unit-Indian Rupee) Liabilities Schedule Current year Previous year Assets Schedule Current year Previous year 1. Corpus/ 1 1,24,50,15,689 92,90,86,573 1. Fixed Assets 8 Capital Fund Gross block 51,07,47,779 2,49,07,112 2. Reserves 2 - - Less: 1,79,49,562 1,64,02,729 and Surplus Depreciation Net Block 49,27,98,216 85,04,383 3. Earmarked/ 3 2,35,02,420 2,19,93,893 2. Investments 9 2,26,95,680 2,09,22,170 Endowment from funds Earmarked/ Endowment Fund 4. Secured 4 - - 3. Investment- 10 51,71,31,221 73,38,88,980 loans and Others borrowings 5. Unsecured 5 - - 4. Current assets, 11 65,71,01,148 1,78,36,31,420 loans and Loans, Advances borrowings etc. 6. Deferred 6 - - 5. Miscellaneous - - credit expenditure (to liabilities the extent not written off or adjusted) 7. Current 7 42,12,08,157 1,59,58,66,488 liabilities and provisions Total 1,68,97,26,266 2,54,69,46,953 Total 1,68,97,26,266 2,54,69,46,953 Note:- All Schedules to Balance Sheet shall form part of Account. Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 115Annexure III FORM B [See rule 3(b)] PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 (Unit-Indian Rupee) Expenditure Schedule Current year Previous year Income Schedule Current year Previous year 1. Establishment 20 17,46,71,424 16,50,08,632 1. Income from 12 - - Expenses Sales/ Services 2. Other Administrative 21 3,94,46,05,711 2,34,82,59,076 2. Grants/ Subsidies 13 2,73,00,00,000 3,62,49,00,000 expenses etc. 3. Expenditure on 22 13,79,89,642 10,01,28,457 3. Fee/ Subscription 14 59,16,36,861 58,43,21,253 Grants, Subsidies etc. 4. Interest 23 11,413 8,724 4. Income from 15 - - Investments (Income on investment from earmarked/ endowment funds transferred to Funds) 5. Depreciation (Net 33,18,117 23,21,441 5.Income 16 - - Total at the year from Royalty, end- corresponding to Publications etc. Schedule 8) 6. Interest Earned 17 7,16,33,290 6,23,18,813 7. Other Income 18 32,58,192 2,62,376 8. Increase/ 19 - - (decrease) in stock of Finished goods and Work-in- progess TOTAL 4,26,05,96,306 2,61,57,26,329 TOTAL 3,39,65,28,342 4,27,18,02,442 Balance being excess (86,40,67,964) 1,65,60,76,113 of Income over Expenditure Transfer to Special - - Reserve (specify each) Transfer to/from - - General Reserve BALANCE BEING (86,40,67,964) 1,65,60,76,113 SURPLUS/(DEFICIT) CARRIED TO CORPUS/CAPITAL FUND Significant Accounting 24 Policy Contigent Liabilities and 25 Notes on Accounts Note:- All Schedules to Balance Sheet shall form part of Account. Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 116Annual Report | 2020-21 FORM C [See rule 3(c)] PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY RECEIPT AND PAYMENT ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 to 31-03-2021 (Unit-Indian Rupee) Sl Receipts Current year Previous year Sl Payments Current year Previous No No year 1. Opening Balances 1. Expenses (a) Cash in hand 5,313 20,000 (a) Establishment Expenses 18,42,94,163 16,71,88,329 (b) Bank Balances (b) Administrative Expenses 22,97,03,303 27,20,22,393 (i) In Current accounts - - 2. Grants Utilised (ii) In Time Deposit accounts - - (a) Swavalamban Contribution (9,887) (1,224) (iii) In Saving Bank deposit accounts 1,55,64,94,648 26,81,40,459 (b) Swavalamban Promotion 54,79,000 - 2. Grants Received (c) Grant to National Pension system Trust - - (i) From Government of India (d) APY Contribution 1,55,02,17,812 1,07,38,13,296 (a) Grant-in-aid Salaries - 13,80,00,000 (e) APY Promotion and Development 2,22,89,29,841 95,00,18,691 (b) Grant-in-aid-General - 10,00,00,000 (f) Refund of Grant - 1,28,458 (g) Refund of Interest 13,79,89,642 - (c) Grant-in-aid-Swavalamban Contribution - - (h) Others (NCFE) - 10,00,00,000 (d) Grant-in-aid-Swavalamban Promotional & - - 3. Investments and deposits made Development activities (e) Grant-in-aid APY Contribution 1,01,00,00,000 1,68,14,00,000 (a) Out of Earmarked/ Endowment funds 1,00,000 1,00,000 (f) Grant-in-aid APY Promotion & 1,72,00,00,000 1,70,55,00,000 (b) Out of Own Funds (Investments-Others) (22,04,88,979) 36,42,06,109 Development (g) Others - - 4. Expenditure on Fixed Assets and Capital Work-in-progress (ii) From State Government (a) Purchase of Fixed Assets 27,38,818 3,08,136 (a) Grant-in-aid Salaries - - (b) Expenditure on Capital Work-in-progress 48,01,94,519 - (b) Grant-aid-General - - 5. Refund of surplus money/ Loans (c) Grant-in-aid-Swavalamban Contribution - - (a) Recoverable from National pension - - system trust (d)Grant-in-aid-Swavalamban Promotional & - - (b) To the State Government - - Development activities (e) Others - - (c) To other providers of funds - - (iii) From Other Sources - - 6. Finance Charges (Interest) 3. Income on Investments (a) Bank charges 11,413 8,724 (a) Earmarked/Endowment Funds 4,648 6,125 (b) Others - - (b) Own Funds (other investment) - - 7. Other Payments (Specify) 4. Interest Received (a) Prepaid 14,56,743 19,59,412 (a) On Bank deposits 6,43,63,126 3,40,87,965 (b) Loan/ Advance to employees 2,53,091 1,87,490 (b) Loans, Advances etc. - - (c) Advance against Expenses 1,86,92,191 4,19,80,703 (c) Others (Interest on Loan) - - (d) Security Deposits - 30,000 5. Other Income (Specify) 8. Closing Balances (a) Annual Fees 59,18,98,251 56,76,24,021 (a) Cash in hand 20,000 5,313 (b) Fees from Miscellaneous Services 3,33,99,991 5,18,000 (b) Bank Balances (c) Miscellaneous Income 32,52,531 66,874 (i) In Current accounts 6 Amount Borrowed - - (ii) In Time Deposit accounts 7 Any Other receipts (iii) in Saving Bank deposit accounts 40,01,42,196 1,55,64,94,648 (a) Security/Earnest Money Received 68,000 - (b) Recovery of Advance 3,87,40,504 3,20,88,379 (c) Transfer of Assets 1,23,567 41,615 (d) Subscribers Education and Protection Fund 1,30,746 81,338 (e) Others 12,42,540 8,75,703 TOTAL 5,01,97,23,865 4,52,84,50,478 TOTAL 5,01,97,23,865 4,52,84,50,478 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 117Annexure III PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 1 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 CORPUS/ CAPITAL FUND (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year Balance as at the beginning of the year 92,90,86,573 55,46,76,869 Add : Opening Balance of unutilized corpus fund 1,52,40,02,776 24,23,36,366 Less: Closing Balance of unutilized corpus fund 34,40,05,696 1,52,40,02,776 Add/ Balance of net income/expenditure transferred (86,40,67,964) 1,65,60,76,113 Deduct: from the Income and Expenditure Add : Government Grant to be received from - - government/transferred from the Income and Expenditure Account BALANCE AS AT THE PERIOD END 1,24,50,15,689 92,90,86,573 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 118Annual Report | 2020-21 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 2 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 RESERVES AND SURPLUS (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Capital Reserve a) At the beginning of the year - - b) Addition during the year - - c) Less: Deductions during the year - - 2. Revaluation Reserve a) At the beginning of the year - - b) Addition during the year - - c) Less: Deductions during the year - - 3. Special Reserve a) At the beginning of the year - - b) Addition during the year - - c) Less: Deductions during the year - - 4. General Reserve a) At the beginning of the year - - b) Addition during the year - - c) Less: Deductions during the year - - Total - - Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 119Annexure III PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 3 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 EARMARKED/ ENDOWMENT FUNDS (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Subscriber's Education and Protection Fund Current Year Previous Year 1. Opening balance of the funds 2,19,93,893 2,04,01,314 2. Additions to the funds a) Donations / grants - - b) Income on Investments made on account of funds 13,77,781 15,19,479 c) Receipts during the year 1,30,746 81,338 d) Other Additions (Specify nature) TOTAL (1+2) 2,35,02,420 2,20,02,131 3. Utilisation/Expenditure towards objectives of funds a) Capital Expenditure i) Fixed assets - - ii) Others - - Total - - b) Revenue Expenditure i) Salaries, wages and allowances, etc. - - ii) Rent - - iii) Other Administrative expenses - 8,238 Total - 8,238 TOTAL (3) - 8,238 NET BALANCE AT THE PERIOD END (1+2-3) 2,35,02,420 2,19,93,893 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 120Annual Report | 2020-21 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 4 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 SECURED LOANS AND BORROWINGS (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Central Government - - 2. State Government - - 3. Financial Instituitions a) Term Loans - - b) Interest accrued and due - - 4. Banks a) Term Loans - - - Interest accrued and due b) Other Loans (specify) - - - Interest accrued and due 5. Other Instituitions - - 6. Debentures and Bonds - - 7. Others - - TOTAL - - Note:- Amount due within one year - Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 121Annexure III PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 5 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 UNSECURED LOANS AND BORROWINGS (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Central Government - - 2. State Government - - 3. Financial Instituitions - - 4. Banks a) Term Loans - - b) Other Loans (specify) - - 5. Other Instituitions - - 6. Debentures and Bonds - - 7. Fixed Deposits - - 8. Others (specify) - - TOTAL - - Note:- Amount due within one year - PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 6 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 DEFERRED CREDIT LIABILITIES (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Acceptances secured by hypothecation of - - Capital Equipment and Other Assets 2. Others - - TOTAL - - Note:- Amount due within one year - Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 122Annual Report | 2020-21 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 7 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 CURRENT LIABILITIES AND PROVISIONS (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year Current Liabilities 1. Acceptances - - 2. Sundry Creditors & Payables 3,48,32,981 1,01,97,526 3. Advances Received - - 4. Interest Accrued but not due on: a) Secured Loans / Borrowings - - b) Unsecured Loans/ Borrowings - - 5. Statutory Liabilities: a) Overdue - - b) Others 16,37,083 8,84,642 6. Other Current Liabilities a) Unutilised grant payable to GOI 34,40,05,696 1,52,40,02,776 b) Others: Security Deposits 65,99,000 65,81,000 TOTAL 38,70,74,760 1,54,16,65,943 Provisions 1. For Taxation - 2. Gratuity 97,50,718 2,01,52,162 3. Trade Warranties/ Claims - - 4. Accumulated Leave encashment 2,38,13,861 3,37,25,725 5. Pension Contribution Payable - - 6. Leave salary payable - - 7. Others - CAG Audit fee payable 5,68,818 3,22,658 TOTAL 3,41,33,397 5,42,00,545 GRAND TOTAL 42,12,08,157 1,59,58,66,488 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 123Annexure III PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 8 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 FIXED ASSETS (Unit-Indian Rupee) Gross Block Depreciation Net Block Cost/ Additions Deductions Cost/ As at For the On Total upto As at the As at the Description Valuation during the during the Valuation as beginning year Deductions the year Current year previous as at the year year at the year of the year during the end year beginning end year of the year Fixed Assets 1. Land: a) Freehold - - - - - - - - - - b) Leasehold - - - - - - - - - - 2. Buildings: - a) On Freehold Land - - - - - - - - - - b) On Leasehold Land - - - - - - - - - - c) Ownership flats/ - - - - - - - - - - premises d) Superstructures on - - - - - - - - - - Land not belonging to the entity 3. Plant Machinery and - - - - - - - - Equipment 4. Vehicle 13,18,102 - - 13,18,102 6,52,273 99,875 - 7,52,148 5,65,954 6,65,829 5. Furniture & Fixtures 43,40,249 1,89,617 - 45,29,866 21,53,397 2,33,462 - 23,86,859 21,43,008 21,86,853 6. Office Equipments 64,63,452 27,71,121 4,89,899 87,44,674 33,43,126 7,15,711 1,65,128 38,93,710 48,50,964 31,20,326 7. Computer/ Peripherals 1,24,35,423 50,93,678 19,64,334 1,55,64,767 99,27,178 22,55,340 16,06,156 1,05,76,362 49,88,405 25,08,245 8. Electrical Installations 1,51,908 - 1,51,908 1,33,040 2,830 - 1,35,870 16,038 18,868 9. Liabrary Books 1,97,977 45,965 - 2,43,942 1,93,715 10,899 - 2,04,614 39,328 4,262 10. Other Fixed Assets - - - - - - - - - - Total of Current Year 2,49,07,112 81,00,381 24,54,233 3,05,53,260 1,64,02,729 33,18,117 17,71,283 1,79,49,562 1,26,03,697 85,04,383 Previous Year 2,34,73,725 23,29,410 8,96,023 2,49,07,112 1,47,66,875 23,21,441 6,85,588 1,64,02,729 85,04,383 87,06,849 Capital work-in-progress - 48,01,94,519 - 48,01,94,519 - - - - 48,01,94,519 - Total 48,82,94,900 51,07,47,779 49,27,98,216 85,04,383 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 124Annual Report | 2020-21 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 9 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 INVESTMENTS FROM EARMARKED/ ENDOWMENT FUNDS (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Government securities - - 2. Other approved securities - - 3. Shares - - 4. Debentures and Bonds - - 5. Subsidiaries and Joint ventures - - 6. Fixed Deposits 2,26,95,680 2,09,22,170 7. Others (to be specified) - - TOTAL 2,26,95,680 2,09,22,170 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 10 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 INVESTMENT- OTHERS (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Government securities - - 2. Other approved securities - - 3. Shares (Unquoted) Shares of National Center for Financial Education (NCFE) 10,00,00,000/- Less: Invest made from Government Grants 1.00 1.00 9,99,99,999/- 4. Debentures and Bonds - - 5. Subsidiaries and Joint ventures - - 6. Fixed Deposits 51,71,31,220 73,38,88,979 7. Others - - TOTAL 51,71,31,221 73,38,88,980 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 125Annexure III PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 11 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF BALANCE SHEET AS AT 31st March, 2021 CURRENT ASSETS, LOANS AND ADVANCES (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year (A) Current Assets 1. Inventories : a) Stores and Spares - - b) Loose Tools - - c) Stock-in-trade Finished goods - - Work-in-progress - - Raw Materials - - 2. Sundry Debtors : a) Debt outstanding for a period exceeding six months - - b) Others: - - 3. Cash in hand 20,000 5,313 4. Bank Balances : a) with Scheduled Banks: i) On Current Accounts - - ii) On Time Deposit Accounts - - iii) On Savings Bank Deposit A/c 40,01,42,196 1,55,64,94,648 b) with Non- Scheduled Banks: i) On Current Accounts - - ii) On Time Deposit Accounts - - iii) On Savings Bank Deposit A/c - - 5. Post Office- Savings Accounts - - 6. Others - - TOTAL (A) 40,01,62,196 1,55,64,99,961 (B) Loans, Advances And Other Assets : 1. Loans: a) Staff 2,60,000 3,24,000 b) Other Entities engagaed in activities/objectives similar to that of the Entity - - c) Others (specify) - - 2. Advances and Other Amounts Recoverable in cash or in kind or for value to be received: a) On Capital Account - - b) Prepayments (Prepaid exp) 14,70,350 19,59,412 c) Security Deposits 38,47,500 36,47,500 d) Others: 13,73,66,838 7,68,83,468 3. Income Accrued: a) On Investments from Earmarked/ Endowment funds 6,34,666 9,35,043 b) On Investments- Others 3,32,45,467 2,97,06,523 c) On Loans and Advances - - d) Others (includes income due unrealized: NIL) 8,01,14,133 11,36,75,514 4. Claims Receivable - - Total (B) 25,69,38,953 22,71,31,460 Grand Total (A)+(B) 65,71,01,148 1,78,36,31,420 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 126Annual Report | 2020-21 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 12 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 INCOME FROM SALES/SERVICES (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Income from Sales a) Sale of Finished goods - - b) Sale of Raw Materials - - c) Sale of Scraps - - 2. Income from Services a) Labour and Processing Charges - - b) Professional/ Consultancy Services - - c) Agency Commission and Brokerage - - d) Maintenance Services (Equipment/Property) - - e) Others (specify) - - TOTAL - - PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 13 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 GRANT/ SUBSIDIES (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year Irrevocable Grants and Subsidies Received 1. Central Government 2,73,00,00,000 3,62,49,00,000 2. State Government - - 3. Government agencies - - 4. Instituition / Welfares bodies - 5. International Organisations - - 6. Others : (Specify) - - Total 2,73,00,00,000 3,62,49,00,000 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 127Annexure III PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 14 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 FEES / SUBSCRIPTIONS (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Entrance Fees - - 2. Annual Fees 55,83,36,870 58,38,03,253 3. Seminar/ Program Fee - - 4. Consultancy Fees - - 5. Licence Fees - - 6. Fees from Miscellaneous Services 3,32,99,991 5,18,000 7. Others (Specify) - - Total 59,16,36,861 58,43,21,253 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 15 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 INCOME FROM INVESTMENTS (Income on investment from Earmarked / Endowmennt funds transferred to Funds) (Unit-Indian Rupee) Investment From Earmarked Fund Investment- Others Particulars Current year Previous year Current year Previous year 1. Interest a) On Govt. Securities - - - - b) Other Bonds/Debentures - - - - c) Others 13,77,781 15,19,479 - - 2. Dividend a) On Shares - - - - b) On Mutual Funds - - - - c) Others - - - - 3. Rents - - - - 4. Others (specify) - - - - Total 13,77,781 15,19,479 - - Less: Transferred to Earmarked/Endowment 13,77,781 15,19,479 - - Funds Net balance - - - - Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 128Annual Report | 2020-21 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 16 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 INCOME FROM ROYALTY, PUBLICATION ETC. (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Income from Royalty - - 2. Income from Publications - - 3. Others (specify) - - Total - - PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 17 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 INTEREST EARNED (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. On Term Deposits Accounts a) with Scheduled Banks 5,69,67,150 4,15,81,140 b) with Non-Scheduled Bank - - c) with Instituitions - - d) Others - - 2. On Savings Bank Deposits Accounts a) with Scheduled Banks 1,46,66,140 2,07,36,732 b) with Non-Scheduled Bank - - c) Post Office Savings Accounts - - d) Others: 3. On Loans: a) Employees/Staff - - b) Others - - 4. Interest on Debtors and Other Receivables - 941 Total 7,16,33,290 6,23,18,813 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 129Annexure III PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 18 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 OTHER INCOME (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Profit on Sale/ Disposal of Assets a) Owned Assets - - b) Assets acquired out of grants or received free of cost - - 2. Export Incentives Realized - - 3. Fees for Miscellaneous Services - - 4. Miscellaneous Income 32,58,192 2,62,376 Total 32,58,192 2,62,376 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 19 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 INCREASE/(DECREASE) IN STOCK OF FINISHED GOODS AND WORK IN PROGRESS (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year A) Closing Stock 1. Finished Goods - - 2. Work-in-progress - - B) Less: Opening Stock 1. Finished Goods - - 2. Work-in-progress - - Net Increase/(Decrease) (A-B) - - Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 130Annual Report | 2020-21 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 20 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 ESTABLISHMENT EXPENSES (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Salaries and Wages 14,82,88,879 13,30,96,305 2. Allowances and Bonus - - 3. Contribution to Provident Fund - 4. Contribution to Pension 1,28,32,661 1,14,45,200 5. Staff Welfare Expenses - - 6. Expense on Employee Retirement and - - Terminal Benefits 7. Leave Salary 85,83,969 1,05,17,892 8. Tution Fees reiumbursement - - 9. Medical reiumbursement 30,50,143 29,87,655 10. Gratuity Contribution 19,15,771 69,61,580 11. Others: (specify) - - Total 17,46,71,424 16,50,08,632 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 131Annexure III PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 21 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 OTHER ADMINISTRATION EXPENSES (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Purchases - - 2. Labour and Processing Expenses - - 3. Cartage and Carriage Inwards - - 4. Electricity and Power 16,47,876 14,40,380 5. Water Charges 5,69,522 2,66,625 6. Insurance 18,44,892 11,43,461 7. Repair and Maintenance 64,00,678 73,23,004 8. Excise Duty - - 9. Rent, Rates and Taxes 7,34,71,187 7,34,82,987 10. Vehicles Running and Maintenance 1,36,94,318 1,31,12,901 11. Postage, Telephone and Communication Charges 52,08,044 42,90,762 12. Printing and Stationary 14,80,358 14,55,288 13. Travelling and Conveyance Expenses 6,71,399 1,08,96,121 14. Expenses on Seminar/ Workshops/ Meetings and conferences 2,48,36,439 1,82,00,214 15. Subscription Expenses - - 16. Expenses on Fees - - 17. Auditors Remuneration 2,46,160 11,99,441 18. Hospitality Expenses - - 19. Professional Charges 3,50,12,958 2,74,27,085 20. Books and Periodicals 1,73,652 2,05,351 21. Recruitment Expenses 80,36,941 1,14,373 22. Provision for Bad and Doubtful Debts/ Advances - - 23. Incentive to Aggregator 54,79,000 - 24. Swavalamban Government Contribution (9,887) (1,224) 25. APY Government Contribution 1,55,02,17,812 1,07,38,13,296 26. Incentive to Point of presence - - 27. Irrevocable balances Written off - 1,006 28. Packing charges - - 29. Freight and Forwarding Expenses - - 30. Distribution Expenses - - 31. Advertisement and Publicity Expenses 1,93,47,176 8,77,99,410 32. Membership fees 32,68,640 8,850 33. Staff Welfare expenses 8,35,661 10,06,994 34. Consultancy expenses 27,65,685 11,00,148 35. APY Promotion 6,19,500 2,28,60,914 36. Incentive under APY 2,18,76,32,920 99,93,97,810 37. Sitting Fees - 36,500 38. Others (Website fee expense, Fund management expense, Computer consumables+ 11,54,779 16,77,380 Auction Processing Fees) Total 3,94,46,05,711 2,34,82,59,076 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 132Annual Report | 2020-21 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 22 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 EXPENDITURE ON GRANT SUBSIDIES ETC. (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. Grants given to Instituitions/ Organisations/National - 9,99,99,999 Pension System Trust 2. Subsidies given to Instituitions/ Organisations - - 3. Others : a. Refund of Grants - 1,28,458 b. Refund of Interest 13,79,89,642 - Total 13,79,89,642 10,01,28,457 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 23 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 INTEREST (Unit-Indian Rupee) Particulars Current year Previous year 1. On Fixed Loans - - 2. On Other Loans - - 3. Bank charges 11,413 8,724 4. Other (specify) - - Total 11,413 8,724 Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 133Annexure III PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 24 "ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021" SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES 1. Basis of accounting and preparation of financial statements The financial statements of the Authority have been prepared in accordance with the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Form of Annual Statement of Accounts and Records) Rules, 2015. The financial statements have been prepared on accrual basis under the historical cost convention except for Swavlamban scheme and Atal Pension Yojna (APY) maintained on payment basis, being the scheme of Government of India . Fee from Trustee Bank and Central Record Keeping Agencies for the last quarter have been accounted on accrual basis for 2020-21. 2. Government Grants Government grants are accounted on realisation basis. Government grants relating to specific assets have been shown as a deduction from the gross value of the assets concerned, in arriving at their book value and the related assets have been shown in the balance sheets at a nominal value. 3. Fixed Assets Fixed assets are stated at their original cost including taxes and other incidental expenses related to acquisition. 4. Retirement benefits The retirement benefits of employees i.e Gratuity and leave encashment, are covered through Group Gratuity Scheme and Group Leave Encashment Scheme taken from Life Insurance Corporation of India. 5. Depreciation 5.1 Depreciation is provided on the written down value method as per rates specified in The Income tax Act 1961. 5.2 Items costing Rs. 5,000/- or less each are treated as revenue expenditure. Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 134Annual Report | 2020-21 PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY SCHEDULE 25 ATTACHED TO AND FORMING PART OF THE ACCOUNTS FOR THE PERIOD 01-04-2020 TO 31-03-2021 CONTINGENT LIABILITIES AND NOTES TO ACCOUNTS 1. Contingent Liabilities There is no contingent liability of the Authority as at 31.03.2021. 2. Current Assets, Loans & Advances The Current assets, Loans and advances have a value on realisation equal at least to the aggregate amount shown in the Balance Sheet. 3. Taxation In view of the Section 34 of The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act 2013, the Authority shall not be liable to pay wealth-tax, income-tax or any other tax in respect of its wealth, income, profits or gains derived. Accordingly, no provision for the same has been provided in the books of accounts. 4. The unutilised Government grants as on 31.03.2021 has been shown under the head Current Liabilities and Provisions. 5. Corresponding figures for the previous year have been regrouped/rearranged, wherever necessary. 6. The schedule 1 to 25 are annexed to and form an integral part of the Balance sheet as at 31-03-2021 and the Income and Expenditure account for the period 01-04-2020 to 31-03-2021. 7. PFRDA has contributed Rs.10 crores towards Share Capital of 'National Center for Financial Education (NCFE)' from the Grants received from Central Government in the FY 2019-20. Hence, this investment has been shown at a notional value of Re.1 under Schedule 10. 8. The Board of PFRDA in its 88th meeting approved the purchase of own premises for PFRDA from NBCC (India) Ltd in its upcoming project at World Trade Center, Nauroji Nagar, New Delhi. Accordingly, PFRDA has made pro-rata payment of Rs 48.02 cr to NBCC during 2020-21 towards the purchase of said premises, which is still under construction. The same has been shown as 'Capital Work-in-Progress' in Schedule-8. Place: New Delhi Ashish Kumar Bharati Date:25/06/2021 Chief Accounts Officer Dr. Deepak Mohanty Pramod Kumar Singh S. Bandyopadhyay Member Member Chairperson 135