Master Circular - Service Charges that can be collected by POPs under NPS (All Citizen and Corporate)/NPS - Lite

MASTER CIRCULAR PFRDA/Master Circular/2024/05/PoP- 03 (Updated as on 31st January 2025) 25th April 2024 To All Point of Presence (PoPs) and Stakeholders in the NPS/NPS-Lite Madam/Sir, Master Circular - Service Charges that can be collected by POPs under NPS (All Citizen and Corporate)/ NPS Lite 1. This circular is issued in exercise of powers conferred under sub-section (1) of Section 14 read with clause (e) of sub-section (2) of Section 14 of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013 and Regulation 16 of the PFRDA (Point of Presence) Regulations, 2018, as amended. 2. This master circular consolidates the existing instructions on the subject of “Service Charges for POPs under NPS (All Citizen and Corporate/NPS-Lite)”. The list of underlying circulars on the subject is furnished in the Part - V. Yours faithfully, (Ashish Kumar Bharati) General Manager Page 1 of 6CONTENTS PART I Introduction PART II General Guidelines PART III Service charges that can be collected by the Point of Presence PART IV Specific Guidelines PART V List of circulars consolidated in the Master Circular -Annexure I List of circulars Rescinded and Archived - Annexure II Page 2 of 6Service Charges that can be collected by POPs under NPS (All Citizen and Corporate) / NPS-Lite PART I- INTRODUCTION 1. With a view to incentivize the Point of Presence (“PoPs”) to promote and distribute NPS and provide better customer service, applicable charges for PoPs for the various services provided by them have been revised from time to time vide various circulars issued by the Authority. The effective date of applicability mentioned in respective circulars would remain unchanged. 2. The instructions contained in the aforesaid Master Circular have been suitably updated by incorporating relevant circulars, issued as on date. 3. The charges that can be collected for services rendered in respect of the NPS-Vatsalya account at any time shall be the same as the charges that be collected under NPS- All Citizen Model as stipulated by the Authority from time to time. (Please refer Circular PFRD/2024/16/PDES/01 dated 18th Sep. 2024 on subject NPS Vatsalya scheme details]. PART II - GENERAL GUIDELINES 4. It may be noted that the compliance obligation of the PoPs shall not be confined merely to the Master Circular but, also to the provisions of the PFRDA Act, 2013 the Rules and Regulations notified thereunder and other applicable laws, besides instructions given by the Authority. 5. This Master Circular shall take effect from the date of its issuance but shall be without prejudice to their (earlier issued circulars) operation and effect, for the period when they were in force, until them being subsumed under this Master Circular. Based on the above Part V containing the list of circulars consolidated in the Master Circular – is placed at Annexure I, such that they are subsumed in the Master Circular and shall for all purpose and intent, remain operative, with no break of continuity. The list of circulars rescinded from time to time is archived and is placed at Annexure II. 6. Notwithstanding such rescission of any circular, upon their merger in the Master Circular, or otherwise, anything done or any action taken or purported to have been done or taken, or to be taken hereafter, under the circulars now rescinded (for the period of their operation) shall be construed to have been validly taken as if the said circulars are in full force and effect and shall remain unaffected by their rescission, in any manner. 7. The previous operation of the rescinded circulars or anything duly done or suffered thereunder, any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred, any penalty, any order passed, any violation committed, any investigation, legal proceedings pending in terms of the circular (now rescinded), shall be treated as if the circulars are in full force and effect, and shall remain unaffected by their rescission, in any manner. Page 3 of 6PART III SERVICE CHARGES FOR THE POINT OF PRESENCE 8. The charge structure for PoPs under NPS (All Citizen and Corporate) are as below: Intermediary Service Charges Method of Deduction (i) Initial Subscriber Upto maximum ₹400/- To be collected upfront Registration (ii) Initial Contribution Upto 0.50% of the contribution, subject to maximum ₹25000/- (iii) All Subsequent Contribution (iv) All Non-Financial Upto maximum ₹30/- Transaction (v) Persistency* ₹50/- p.a. for annual contribution Through cancellation of units ₹1000/ to ₹2999/- ₹75/- p.a. for annual contribution ₹3000/ to ₹6000/- POP ₹100/- p.a. for annual contribution above ₹6000/- (Only for NPS All Citizen model) (vi) e-NPS (for subsequent Upto 0.20% of the contribution, To be collected upfront subject to maximum ₹10,000/- contribution) (Only for NPS All Citizen and Tier - II Accounts) (vii) Trail commission for D-Upto 0.20% of the contribution Through unit deduction Remit Contributions subject to maximum ₹ 10,000/- on periodical basis (Only for NPS All Citizen and Tier - II Accounts) (viii) Processing of Upto 0.125% of Corpus subject To be collected upfront Exit/Withdrawal to maximum ₹500/- *1. Persistency charges is payable to such POPs to which the subscriber is associated for more than six months in a financial year. 2. Minimum contribution per transaction is ₹500/- and minimum annual contribution is ₹1000/- 3. GST or other taxes as applicable, shall be additional. Page 4 of 6PART IV -SPECIFIC GUIDELINES 9. The service charge structure outlined in PART III of this master circular shall be effective from 31.01.2025. The old charge structure applicable prior to 31.01.2025, may be referred from the circulars mentioned in Annexure I of Part V of this Master Circular. 10. The PoPs will continue to have the option to negotiate the charges with the subscribers, subject however to the maximum charge structure permitted by the Authority. 11. Persistency charge per financial year will be applicable on accounts under NPS- All Citizen Model where a subscriber is associated with a particular PoP continuously for more than six months in a financial year. The applicable persistency charges at different level of contributions in Tier-I account during the financial year shall be as per table at point – 8 above. This charge will be payable annually to the associated PoPs by deduction of the units in the system of Central Record Keeping Agency after closure of the financial year. 12. The POPs shall make timely and sufficient disclosure to subscribers in respect of the charges being collected by them. 13. Charge structure under NPS-Lite/ Swavalamban is as below: Charges under NPS-Lite/Swavalamban w.e.f 01.04.2017 Method of levying charges The charges for any subsequent transaction under NPS- Through unit deduction Lite/Swavalamban @ 0.25% of the total contribution deposited by the CRA at the end of by the subscriber in NPS-Lite/Swavalamban in a financial year the Financial Year subject to a minimum of Rs. 20/- Any other transaction not involving a contribution from subscriber @ Rs. 10/- per transaction 14. The Aggregators are not permitted to collect any charge upfront from the NPS- Lite/Swavalamban subscriber. 15. In case of any violation of the master circular being observed,an appropriate action, as may be warranted shall be initiated by the Authority, including under the provisions of the PFRDA Act, 2013 and PFRDA (Point of Presence) Regulations, 2018 as amended. 16. All Points of Presence (POPs) are required to provide their service charge structure for 'e-NPS (for subsequent contributions)' and 'trail commission for D-Remit Contributions' to the Central Record Keeping Agencies to deduct applicable charges through upfront deduction from subscriber`s contribution and unit deduction from subscribers corpus on periodical basis respectively. 17. All Points of Presence (PoPs) are mandated to publicly display their updated charge structure on their respective websites. This information must also be clearly presented to subscribers during the transaction process through pop-up notification. Page 5 of 6PART V List of circulars consolidated in the Master Circular – Annexure I S.No Circular No. (With Link to Date of Subject access) Issuance 1 PFRDA/2022/03/REG- 31/01/2022 Revision of Service Charges for PoPs under POP/01 NPS (All Citizen and Corporate) 2 PFRDA/2023/04/REG- 20/01/2023 Clarification on non-financial charges for POP/01 PoPs under NPS (All Citizen and Corporate) 3 PFRDA/2022/22/SUP- 22/08/2022 Trail commission to POPs on voluntary CRA/7 contributions through D-Remit by Subscribers associated to POPs under All Citizen Model 4 PFRDA/2017/5/SWM/1 20/02/2017 Charges and incentive structure under NPS Lite w.e.f 01.04.2017 List of Circulars Rescinded and Archived in the Master Circular - Annexure II S.No Circular No. (With Link to Date of Subject access) Issuance 1. PFRDA/2021/49/REG-POP/2 13/12/2021 Condition of negotiation related to Fee/charge structure for PoP under NPS 2. PFRDA/2020/40/REG-POP/1 14/09/2020 Revision in condition of negotiation related to Fee/charge structure for PoP under NPS 3. PFRDA/2017/34/P&D/1 31/10/2017 Clarification on revision of Service Charges to PoPs under NPS (All Citizen and Corporate Model) 4. PFRDA/2017/34/P&D/1 27/10/2017 Revision of Service Charges to PoPs under NPS (All Citizen and Corporate) 5. PFRDA/2016/17/CORP/3 26/07/2016 Introduction of Service Charges to associated POPs on transactions made through e-NPS 6. PFRDA/2016/3/CRA/TB/1 28/01/2016 Revision in fee for Banks/PoP for KYC verification for online subscriber registration under e-NPS 7. PFRDA/2015/13/POP/02 20/04/2015 Enhancement of initial subscriber registration charges for POP under NPS for all subscribers and Corporate and All Citizen Model 8. 9/16/2008 16/01/2012 Charge structure for PoPs for covering the Private sector subscribers under NPS ********************************************* Page 6 of 6