The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has launched a special NPS accumulation scheme for workers in the unorganised sector. It will help daily wage earners to get retirement and pension benefits in old age, just like salaried individuals. According to the PFRDA, approximately 90 per cent of the country’s workers still work in the unorganised sector. This includes daily wage labourers, small shopkeepers, gig workers, domestic workers, and artisans such as plumbers and electricians. Currently, these individuals do not receive any formal pension benefits.ย
NPS Sanchay Yojana
Keeping this in mind, the PFRDA has launched the NPS Sanchay Yojana to provide social security to these workers. The investment limit has been kept low so that even those with small incomes can benefit from the scheme.
This scheme will be similar to the NPS
PFRDA states that the terms and conditions of this scheme, launched specifically for the unorganised sector, will be similar to those of the old NPS. Its purpose is to educate workers about the complexities of investing and to provide them with pension benefits upon retirement without the hassle. This scheme will allow these workers, despite the lack of advice, to reap the benefits of investment and returns, strengthening their social security. This scheme will also offer the opportunity for partial withdrawals.
Where and how to open an NPS account?
- Any person can open an account sitting at home through the e-NPS portal or KFintech.
- To open an offline account, registration can be done at any bank, financial institution, or service centre.
- In NPS Sanchay, all the rules regarding minimum and further investment will remain the same as the existing NPS scheme.
- To open an account in this, a minimum investment of Rs 500 is required, and after that, at least Rs 1,000 must be invested every year.
Investors can easily invest in NPS Sanchay by visiting any PoP (Point of Presence) centre across the country. The good thing is that the rules of NPS Sanchay are the same as those of the regular NPS, making it easy for people to understand the new system.