Enrolment for Atal Pension Yojana – know how to avail it

The Atal Pension Yojana is a plan supported by the Government of India administered by the Pension Funds Regulatory Authority of India (PFRDA). It was launched primarily to help the unorganised sector. It assists household helpers, labourers, delivery staff, etc. working with private organisations to get pension benefits. They can benefit from this scheme. This scheme intends to offer a sense of wellbeing with a fixed pension amount to all Indian citizens in their old age.

The APY offers the option of receiving a fixed pension amount of INR 1,000, INR 2,000, INR 3,000, INR 4,000 or INR 5,000 upon reaching the age of 60. The pension is agreed depending upon the age and contribution amount of an individual. The Government of India contributes 50 percent of the total pension contribution or INR 1,000 per annum for all subscribers of APY scheme

Eligibility conditions

For availing the benefits of Atal Pension Yojana, you must fulfil the following criteria:

Must be an Indian citizen between 18-40 years. 

Must have a valid mobile number and bank account linked to Aadhaar card.

Must contribute a minimum of 20 years.

Application process

All nationalised banks offer APY benefits. You can visit your nearest branch to open an APY account.

You can also avail the APY form online from the official website.

Besides English and Hindi, the APY form is available in regional languages such as Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, Kannada, Telegu, Bengali and Odia.

Submit du-lyfilled application form to your bank along with a photocopy of your Aadhaar card.

Make sure you provide a valid and active phone number to your bank during the application.

You get a confirmation message on the same number once your application gets approved.

How to start the pension?

Once you are 60 years old, you can submit a request to the bank to start your pension. In case of your death, your family members can claim the pension. In case of the death of both spouses, the nominee is eligible of getting the accrued amount. In the event of the bread-earner’s death before the age of 60, the spouse can seek the option of getting the payments for the balance period or withdraw from the scheme and claim the corpus.

Essential facts about Atal Pension Yojana Scheme

The payment towards APY is automatically debited from your savings account. Hence, maintain adequate balance in the account.

In case of a non-payment, a penalty of INR one per month for every INR 100 gets levied.

In case non-payment continues after six months, your account freezes.

If your default persists for 12 months, the account gets closed, and the accrued amount gets paid to contributor.

Early withdrawal request is a big no. Only if there is terminal illness or demise, the contributor or the nominee gets the accumulated amount.

In case you decide to close the scheme before the age of 60, you are not entitled to receive the Government’s contribution amount, or the interest accrued on it. You get your part of the contribution plus the interest you earned on it.

With a fixed pension post-retirement, Atal Pension Yojana has brought a security cover to all Indian citizens. It also intends to encourage the habit of investment and savings among the middle and low-income part of society.