a.Schemes
1.What is meant by Scheme Preference ?
Scheme Preference is the Pension fund schemes option chosen by the subscriber for investing the pension contribution amount. At present, there is only one default scheme for Tier I.
The contribution of all the Subscribers will be invested in this default scheme. In the default scheme, the contribution is allocated to three PFMs, viz. SBI Pension Funds Private Limited, UTI Retirement Solutions Limited and LIC Pension Fund Limited in a predefined proportion and each of the PFMs will invest the funds in the proportion of 85% in fixed income instruments and 15% in equity and equity related instruments.
For Tier II, the government subscriber has been given the flexibility to choose one out of six Pension Fund Managers(PFMs) and also the percentage in which the selected PFM will invest the funds.
The six PFMs are
- ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company Limited
- IDFC Pension Fund Management Company Limited
- Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Limited
- Reliance Capital Pension Fund Limited
- SBI Pension Funds Private Limited
- UTI Retirement Solutions Limited
The three asset classes are
Equity (E), Corporate bonds (C) and Government Securities (G). A subscriber choose Active Choice, he can specify the percentage in which his / her money is to be invested in these asset classes. However, allocation in Equity cannot be more than 50%. A subscriber opts for Auto Choice, system will automatically calculate the asset allocation percentages based on the subscriber's age.
2.What are the Assets permitted for NPS funds Investment?
At present under Tier I, there is only one scheme (default) available to Central/State Govt. employees under which 85% of your money is invested in debt instruments and upto 15% in equity and equity linked mutual funds.
Under Tier II, the sets of assets to be considered for investment are segregated based on their risk{return characteristics)
- Asset class E : "High return, High risk" (equity market instruments).
- Asset class G : "Low return, Low risk" fixed income instruments. The best example of this are central government bonds.
- Asset class C : "Medium return for credit risk" bearing fixed income instruments. Examples of these are bonds issued by firms.
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3.How are the returns calculated in Tier I and Tier II account ? Is there a assured return / div / bonus?
For Central Government employees mandatorily covered under NPS, the total contribution uploaded in an employee's Tier I account is divided among three PFMs. viz. SBI Pension Funds Private Limited, UTI Retirement Solutions Limited and LIC Pension Fund Limited in a predefined ratio and units are allotted in the subscribers account. For State Government employees mandatorily covered under NPS, the total contribution uploaded in an employee's Tier I account is divided among the three PFMs. viz. SBI Pension Funds Private Limited, UTI Retirement Solutions Limited and LIC Pension Fund Limited in a ratio as decided by the State Government and units are allotted in the subscribers account accordingly. The PFMs invest the money in different financial instruments within the investment guidelines laid down by PFRDA and declare Net Asset Value(NAV) at the end of each business day. Accordingly, based on the NAV units are credited in the subscriber's account. The present value of the investment is arrived by the units held multiplied by the NAV.
In Tier II, the only difference is that the subscriber can select any one of the 6 PFMs and can also select the ratio in which his / her money is invested in one or more asset class viz. Equity, Corporate Debt and Government Bonds.
The return under NPS is market driven. Hence, there is no guaranteed/defined amount of return. The returns generated through investments are accumulated and is not distributed as dividend or bonus.
4. What is Net Asset Value (NAV)?
Also known as NAV, this is the price of one unit of a fund. NAV is calculated at the end of every working day between Monday and Friday. It is calculated by adding up the value of all the securities and cash in the fund's portfolio (its assets), subtracting the fund's liabilities, and dividing that number by the number of units that the fund has issued. The NAV increases (or decreases) when the value of the fund's holdings increase (or decrease). NAV of different PFMs may differ. Even the different schemes under the same PFM will have different NAV.
5.How do I change my scheme preference?
Scheme Preference change option is not available to Govt. subscribers for Tier I.
For Tier II, the subscriber has to submit the physical application form
(Form-UOS-S3) to change Scheme Preference. However, such changes can be done only once in a financial year. You can submit the request to your POP-SP through whom your Tier II account is activated. Please collect a 17 digit acknowledgement number against your request. The transaction is chargeable.
6.How do a subscriber track the status of the change request?
Yes, subscriber can either check with their POP-SP or can call at CRA's toll free number 1800 222 080 for the status of pending request. Please mention the 17 digit acknowledgement number received from POP-SP against your request.
7. Will I get any intimation for the change in scheme preference?
CRA system will send an e-mail to the Subscriber (if the email ID is available) once the request is processed.
8.How many times a subscriber has an option to change his / her scheme preference?
At present, this facility is not available for Tier I account of Central/state Govt. employee. In future, subscriber will have the option of selection of PFM and Investment schemes (as and when PFRDA approves it). For Tier II account, you can request for a change of scheme preference once in a financial year.
9. What is Auto choice?
At present under Tier I, this facility is not available for central/state govt. employees. In future, you will have option to select your investment choice as and when PFRDA approves it. For Tier II account, Govt. Employee can select his / her investment choice as auto choice. Under this type of investment choice, investment will be made in a life cycle fund in the schemes of Pension Fund Manager chosen by the subscriber. The fraction of funds invested across three asset classes will be determined by a Pre-defined portfolio.
10.What is Active choice?
At present under Tier I, this facility is not available for central/state govt. employees. In future, subscribers will have option to select your investment choice as and when PFRDA approves it. For Govt Employee who opted for Tier II, under this type of investment choice, subscribers have an option to choose a fund manager and provide the ratio in which his / her funds to be invested among the asset classes.
11. What is Asset Class "E"?
At present under Tier I, this facility is not available for central/state govt. employees. In future, subscribers will have option to select your investment choice as and when PFRDA approves it. For Govt Employee who opted for Tier II and selected active choice, three assets class are there (E, C & G) Asset Class "E" are the Investments in Equity shares. Money will be invested in index funds that replicate the portfolio of a Particular index(Like BSE sensitive index and NSE nifty fifty index.).Max investment in this class is 50% of total contribution.
12.What is Asset Class "G"?
At present under Tier I, this facility is not available for central/state govt. employees. In future, you will have option to select your investment choice as and when PFRDA approves it. For Govt Employee who opted for Tier II and selected active choice, three assets class are there (E, C & G). Asset Class "G" is the Asset Class of lowest risk. The most natural candidates for lowest risk assets are bonds issued by the Central Government { called GOI bonds. These bonds have no default risk, and/or enormous depth for investments by pension funds.
13.What is Asset Class "C"?
At present under Tier I, this facility is not available for central/state govt. employees. In future, you will have option to select your investment choice as and when PFRDA approves it. For Govt Employee who opted for Tier II and selected active choice, three assets class are there (E, C & G). Asset Class "C" contains Bonds issued by any Entity other than Central Government. Here, the issuers can be state governments, municipal bodies, state government PSU/PSE like electricity boards, and private corporations.
14. For Auto Choice, how do the proportion of E, C and G change?
In Auto Choice, the proportion of E, C and G is determined by the subscriber's age. At each birthdate of the subscriber, these proportions are adjusted with age as mentioned in the life-cycle matrix.
15.What is rebalancing as per regulatory requirement appearing in Statement of Transaction for Tier II account?
As mentioned in the offer document of PFRDA, in case of subscribers who have opted 'Auto choice' investment option, the percentage of investment in the asset classes E/C/G will change as per the age of the subscriber as given in the 'Life cycle Investment Matrix'. The change happens on the date of birth of the subscriber. In this process, asset allocation ratio is changed and the existing assets are redeemed and reinvested as per the new ratio of allocation.
b.Withdrawal
1.When and how can I withdraw the amount from Tier I account?
Withdrawal of Tier I account: As per the guidelines for withdrawal stipulated by Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA)/Ministry of Finance(MOF), the subscribers can exit form National Pension System (NPS) on his / her retirement, resignation or death.
* Retirement : On attaining the age of 60 years, a subscriber would be required to invest minimum 40% of his / her accumulated savings (pension wealth) to purchase a life annuity from any IRDA (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority) - regulated life insurance company.
A subscriber may choose to purchase an annuity for an amount greater than 40%. The remaining pension wealth can either be withdrawn in a lump sum on attaining the age of 60 or in a phased manner, between age 60 and 70, at the option of the subscriber.
* Resignation: On resignation of the subscriber, 80% of the corpus has to be annuitized and the subscriber can withdraw remaining wealth.
* Death : On death, the entire corpus of the subscriber will be handed over to the nominee of the subscriber.
However, the operational procedures for the withdrawal are yet to be finalized by PFRDA in consultation with MOF. Once they are finalized the offices will be intimated about the same. The withdrawal request should be routed through the associated PAO.
2.What is Annuity?
Annuity in the context of NPS refers to the monthly sum that will be received by the subscriber from the Annuity Service Provider after he attains the age of 60.
3. Who is the Annuity service provider?
Annuity Service Providers (ASPs) is the entity who will be responsible for managing the funds (allocated for buying annuity) and payment of the pension after a subscriber attains the age of 60. The ASPs will be the entities regulated by IRDA. At present, ASP is not appointed by PFRDA.
4.What happens if the subscriber dies after attaining the age of 60?
The mode and manner of payment of amount (if any available) will depend on the type of annuity plan / scheme selected by the subscriber while buying the annuity.
5.How can I exit from NPS?
No employee/subscriber can exit from NPS till he is mandatorily covered under NPS.
In case of death of the subscriber before the age of 60, the nominee will receive the entire sum. In case of resignation or voluntary retirement, please refer to the question on withdrawal.
6.What happens to my investments if I discontinue the scheme?
A subscriber who is mandatorily covered under NPS can not exit from NPS till he is employed.
In case of resignation or voluntary retirement, please refer to the question on withdrawal.
7.What happens to the accumulated amount at the time of death of the employee?
In the event of death of the employee/subscriber, the nodal office will enter a withdrawal request in the CRA system. After the request is processed, a cheque is issued favouring the nominee and is despatched to the nodal office. In case no nominee is registered in the CRA system, the cheque is issued favouring the associated PAO. In case there are more than one nominee, the sum will be distributed to nominee in the ratio as recorded in the system.
8.How do I redeem from Tier II account?
In order to withdraw from Tier II account, the subscriber needs to submit a duly filled
UOS-S12 to the associated POP-SP. If the request is entered and authorised in CRA system by the POP/POP-SP before 1.30 PM, then it goes for same day's processing, or else it goes for the next business day. The redemption amount may vary due to the variation of NAV. Units are redeemed based on the NAV declared at the end of the processing day. On T+3 days, (T being the date of processing) the funds are transferred from the Trustee Bank to subscriber's bank account as registered in the CRA system.
c.ChargesWhat is the charge structure in NPS?
In case of government subscribers, all the charges associated to Tier I account including Annual PRA Maintenance charge are paid by the employer. Tier II activation charge and transaction charges for Tier II is paid by the subscriber.
The POP charges and the CRA charges are given in the table below. For details of other charges, please refer to the offer document.
(link to offer document)
| Intermediary | Charge head | Service charges* | Mathd of Deduction |
| CRA |
| PRA Opening charges |
| Annual PRA Maintenance cost per account |
| Charge per transaction |
|
| Through cancellation of units at the end of each quarter. |
POP
(Maximum Permissible charge for each subscriber) |
| Initial subscriber registration |
| Initial contribution upload |
| Any subsequent transaction involving contribution upload |
| Any other transaction not involving a contribution from subscriber |
|
| Rs 100 |
| 0.25% of the initial contribution amount from subscriber subject to a minimum of Rs.20 and a maximum of Rs. 25,000/- |
| 0.25% of the amount subscribed by the NPS subscriber, subject to minimum of Rs.20/- and a maximum of Rs. 25000/-. |
| Rs 20 |
| To be collected upfront |
|
| *Service tax and other levies, as applicable, will be levied as per the existing tax laws. |
| 1 CRA had reduced Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) from Rs. 350 to Rs. 280 and Transaction Charges from Rs. 10 to Rs. 6 once the number of accounts (PRANs) crossed 10 lakhs. It was committed to reduce the charges once the number of accounts reaches 30 lakhs. However, with commendable increase in the number of subscribers in a short span of one year, CRA has reduced the AMC by almost 20% to Rs. 225 and Transaction Charges by more than 16% to Rs.5 even before reaching the milestone. | | | | |
How are the charges calculated and deducted from my account?
CRA charges for Tier II account are deducted from the subscriber's account as on the last day of the calendar quarter. The billing cycle is 3 months i.e., 26th of the last month of the previous quarter to 25th of the last month of the current quarter.
Lets assume, for the quarter ending September 2010 (billing cycle is June 26th to September 25th , 2010), for a PRAN, following are the applicable charges : Charge for 10 Transaction - Rs. 50
Service Tax including Education Cess - Rs. 5.52
Total Charges - Rs. 55.52
The value of holding of the subscriber as on September 29, 2010 is Rs. 10000 i.e., E - Rs.5000 (50%); C -Rs. 3000 (30%) and G - Rs. 2000 (20%).
The charges of Rs. 55.52 will be recovered in the ratio of holdings
Recovery
- E - 50% of Rs.55.52 = Rs. 27.76
- C - 30% of Rs. 55.52 = Rs. 16.65
- G - 20% of Rs. 55.52 = Rs. 11.10
Lets assume that as on September 29, 2010, NAV for asset class E, C and G is 13, 12 and 11 respectively.
- Units redeemed from E - 27.76/13 = 2.1353
- Units redeemed from C – 16.65/12 = 1.3875
- Units redeemed from G – 11.10/11 = 1.0090
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