Atal Pension Yojana (APY)

The APY (Atal Pension Yojana) was earlier known as Swavalamban Yojana. This scheme is a Government-backed Pension Scheme which is launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9th May 2015 in Kolkata, West Bengal. This scheme is administered by PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) under the National Pension System.

The main objective of this scheme is to enhance the old age income security of the working poor and it mainly focuses on the weaker sections of the society. This scheme provides a guaranteed monthly pension amount. The scheme came into operation in June 2015 and under this plan, the subscriber will receive a fixed pension after the age of 60 depending on their contribution amount and tenure.

Key Features of Atal Pension Yojana(APY)

• Under the Atal Pension Yojana, the subscriber gets an assured minimum monthly pension ranging from Rs 1000 to Rs 5000 after the retirement at the age of 60, until the death of the subscriber.
• After the death of the subscriber, the pension can be availed by the spouse, and thereafter the pension corpus would be returned to the nominee.
• The Government contribution is accessible to those who are not covered by any Permitted Social Security Schemes and do not pay any income tax.
• The Government provides the subscriber a period of 5 years who joins the scheme between the time periods of 1st June 2015- 31st of December 2015.

Eligibility Criteria for the APY Scheme

• The Atal Pension Scheme is only available to the Indian Citizens.
• The age criteria for this scheme are between 18-40 years of age.
• Aadhaar number is the mandatory KYC document. (KYC- Know Your Customer)
• Aadhaar and Mobile Number will be acquired from the subscribers for a smooth operation of the scheme.

Subscriber Payment/ Enrollment

• The Customers who hold a valid bank account can join the Atal Pension Yojana scheme. They can use the auto-debit facility to pay monthly, quarterly and half-yearly.
• Make sure that you maintain a required balance in the savings account. Make sure that the payment is done before the due date and must avoid the late payment charges.
• If you are not paying the monthly contributions on the regular basis, then the account can be closed and the Government of India’s Contribution amount will be forefended.
• Providing wrong declaration information can affect the interest and the account might get closed or forfeited.
• The subscriber can even increase or decrease the monthly pension amount when the contribution is being made.
• If an APY subscriber wants to change the amount of the fixed pension, then he can change it once in a year, in April.
• Once a subscriber joins the APY, the bank will provide an acknowledgement receipt which carries the details of the due date of the monthly contribution, guaranteed pension amount and PRAN.

Enrollment Agencies

All the Points of Presence (Service Providers) and Aggregators under the Swavalamban Scheme can enrol through the architecture of National Pension Scheme.

Funding for Atal Pension Yojana

The Government contributes 50% of the subscriber contribution or Rs 1000 per annum for a period of 5 years starting from 2015-16. This scheme is valid for those who became a part of it on 31st Dec 2015 and are not a part of the Income Tax Payment.  The Government is also reimbursing some promotional and development activities along with incentives to the contribution collection agencies to encourage the people of this scheme. The Government expenditure is expected to reach approx. 2520 crore to 10, 000 Crore rupees.

Migration of Current Swavalamban Scheme Subscribers to APY

The existing subscribers of the Swavalamban Scheme are automatically migrated to the Atal Pension Yojana. They have the option of choosing to pull out, provided they meet the eligibility criteria. The five-year contribution of the Government might not exceed for all these subscribers.

For example: if an existing Swavalamban Subscriber has got a Government contribution of 2 years, then under the Atal Pension Yojana they will only receive a three-year contribution from the Government. If any current Swavalamban subscriber wants to opt out from the scheme, then the Government’s contribution can only be given only till 2016/2017, depending if they are eligible. Such types of subscribers are fit under NPS Scheme until the age has been reached.

The migration is done for the age criteria between 18-40 years. The aggregator provides a complete support in completing the migration process. The subscriber who wishes to move to the APY Scheme can contact the nearest bank for the migration from one scheme to another.

The Swavalamban subscribers who fall under the age of 40 can also opt for the discontinuation of the scheme and can withdraw the complete entire amount, including the principal amount and interest amount earned. Otherwise, they can choose to continue until the age of 60 in order to be eligible to earn incentives.

How to Apply for Atal Pension Yojana Online

The subscriber form of Atal Pension Yojana is available online on different bank websites and other third-party websites. All you have to do is just download the form and fill in the required details and submit it to the banks. You need to furnish the required documents and your Atal Pension Yojana account is opened. Direct applications of APY cannot be done online; you have to submit the forms to the nearest bank branch.

Regular Alerts for Atal Pension Yojana

The Atal Pension Yojana subscribers can get the regular alerts regarding their account balance, contribution credit, and other account related activities through SMS alerts. The APY Subscribers can easily make changes to the details like nominee holder, phone name, address etc. whenever they wish to do so.

Registration of a valid mobile number is mandatory under the APY Scheme so that the customers can get connected through SMS alerts.

Atal Pension Yojana Application Yojana

To register for the APY Scheme, the subscribers have to submit their application, in the nearest bank branch along with the list of other documents required. The Aadhaar is the primary KYC document for identifying nominees, beneficiaries, and the subscriber’s spouse. The application form is available in various languages namely, Hindi, Bangla, English, Gujarati, Telugu, Kannada, Odia, Tamil, and Marathi.

The application form has to be signed by the subscriber and is submitted to the bank. It also has an acknowledgement section- which is filled by the bank. The applicants are not allowed to fill in the section. The acknowledgement receipt will be given back to the customer. The fields that are marked with the asterisk are mandatory to fill.

Atal Pension Yojana Calculator

Every subscriber who intends to join the Atal Pension Yojana has questions in his mind saying who much will receive in return, how much money is best to invest and much more. So to tackle all these things the Government has introduced a new tool to cut out the risks or tension of the money thing. The new tool is none other than the Atal Pension Yojana Calculator.

It calculates the fixed monthly pension amount depending upon the age and the interest earned. So depending on the age of joining and the chosen fixed monthly pension amount, below are the tables that represent the monthly contribution amount that has to be paid by the customers.

Based on the period of contribution, the monthly premium amount is calculated. It is recommended to join the APY Scheme at an early age when the premium is lower and the fixed pension amount is higher. The guaranteed fixed pension amount is paid to the subscriber or the spouse.

APY Calculator for Contribution for Rs 1000

If a subscriber opts to choose a fixed monthly pension of Rs 1000, then the amount is debited from the bank. The amount will fall under Rs 41-Rs 291 from the bank account. And as per the Atal Pension Yojana Calculation plan, after the death of the subscriber and his spouse, the nominee will receive Rs 1, 70, 000.

APY Scheme Calculator for Contribution for Rs 2000

If a subscriber opts to choose a fixed monthly pension of Rs 2000, then the amount is debited from the bank. The amount will fall under Rs 82-Rs 582 from the bank account. And as per the Atal Pension Yojana Calculation plan, after the death of the subscriber and his spouse, the nominee will receive Rs 3, 40, 000.

APY Scheme Calculator for Contribution for Rs 3000

If a subscriber opts to choose a fixed monthly pension of Rs 3000, then the amount is debited from the bank. The amount will fall under Rs 126-Rs 873 from the bank account. And as per the Atal Pension Yojana Calculation plan, after the death of the subscriber and his spouse, the nominee will receive Rs 5, 10, 000.

APY Scheme Calculator for Contribution for Rs 4000

If a subscriber opts to choose a fixed monthly pension of Rs 4000, then the amount is debited from the bank. The amount will fall under Rs 168-Rs 1164 from the bank account. And as per the Atal Pension Yojana Calculation plan, after the death of the subscriber and his spouse, the nominee will receive Rs 6, 80, 000.

APY Scheme Calculator for Contribution for Rs 5000

If a subscriber opts to choose a fixed monthly pension of Rs 5000, then the amount is debited from the bank. The amount will fall under Rs 210-Rs 1454 from the bank account. And as per the Atal Pension Yojana Calculation plan, after the death of the subscriber and his spouse, the nominee will receive Rs 8, 50, 000.

Atal Pension Yojana Interest/ Other Interests

The APY (Atal Pension Yojana) includes some of the extra charges, fees and some overdue interest for delayed payments and non-payments of the monthly contribution amount, from time to time. These charges are levied according to the norms of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, with an authorization from the Government of India.

Fees and Charges for Atal Pension Yojana Account

Intermediary		Charges
Point of Presence	APY Subscriber Registration Form	Rs 120 to Rs 150 Depending on the number of subscribers.
	Recurring charges per annum	Rs 100/ subscriber
Central Record Agencies	APY Account Opening Charges	Rs 15/ account
	Account Maintenance Charges	Rs 40/account/annum
Custodian	Investment Maintenance Fee (per annum)	0.0075% on electronics 0.05% on physical segment of AUM
Pension Fund Mangers	Investment Maintenance Fee (per annum)	0.0102% of AUM

Atal Pension Yojana Eligibility

The citizens of India are eligible to apply for Atal Pension Yojana Scheme. The following are the different eligibility criteria that have to be fulfilled by the interested applicants:

• The customers must hold a valid savings account in order to open an Atal Pension Yojana account.
• The age limit of the applicant must be 18-40 years.
• Every applicant must have a mobile number, which has to be registered at the time of application.
• A co-contribution amount is also provided by the Government to certain the APY Subscribers.

Atal Pension Yojana Monthly Premium Plans

The APY Scheme provides five premium plans to the customers based on which a certain amount is contributed to the subscribers every month, in order to get a fixed pension amount. The subscribers can choose their plan according to their convenience as per the fixed pension amount they would like to get.

• To get a fixed pension amount of Rs 1000, the amount that has to be invested is as follows:

Joining Age of the Subscriber	No. of years of Contribution	Monthly Contribution Amount	Monthly Fixed Pension Amount
18	42	Rs 42	Rs 1000
20	40	Rs 50	Rs 1000
25	35	Rs 76	Rs 1000
30	30	Rs 116	Rs 1000
35	25	Rs 181	Rs 1000
40	20	Rs 291	Rs 1000

• To get a fixed pension amount of Rs 2000, the amount that has to be invested is:

Joining Age of the Subscriber	No. of years of Contribution	Monthly Contribution Amount	Monthly Fixed Pension Amount
18	42	Rs 84	Rs 2000
20	40	Rs 100	Rs 2000
25	35	Rs 151	Rs 2000
30	30	Rs 231	Rs 2000
35	25	Rs 362	Rs 2000
40	20	Rs 582	Rs 2000

• To get a fixed pension amount of Rs 3000, the amount that has to be invested is:

Joining Age of the Subscriber	No. of years of Contribution	Monthly Contribution Amount	Monthly Fixed Pension Amount
18	42	Rs 126	Rs 3000
20	40	Rs 150	Rs 3000
25	35	Rs 226	Rs 3000
30	30	Rs 347	Rs 3000
35	25	Rs 543	Rs 3000
40	20	Rs 873	Rs 3000

• To get a fixed pension amount of Rs 4000, the amount that has to be invested is:

Joining Age of the Subscriber	No. of years of Contribution	Monthly Contribution Amount	Monthly Fixed Pension Amount
18	42	Rs 168	Rs 4000
20	40	Rs 198	Rs 4000
25	35	Rs 301	Rs 4000
30	30	Rs 462	Rs 4000
35	25	Rs 722	Rs 4000
40	20	Rs 1164	Rs 4000

•  To get a fixed pension amount of Rs 5000, the amount that has to be invested is:

Joining Age of the Subscriber	No. of years of Contribution	Monthly Contribution Amount	Monthly Fixed Pension Amount
18	42	Rs 210	Rs 5000
20	40	Rs 248	Rs 5000
25	35	Rs 376	Rs 5000
30	30	Rs 577	Rs 5000
35	25	Rs 902	Rs 5000
40	20	Rs 1454	Rs 5000

 Atal Pension Yojana Penalty Charges

The APY requires the subscribers to make monthly contributions without any break in the payments. If a subscriber does not perform regular payments and stops giving contributions then the concerned bank can perform serious penalty charges as stipulated by the Government. The additional penalty charges range from Rs 1- Rs 10 every month. This fixed penalty amount or interest shall be a portion of the pension corpus of the contributor.

• If the contribution amount is up to Rs 100, then the penalty amount would be Re 1 every month.
• If the contribution amount is between Rs 101- Rs 500, then the penalty amount will be Rs 2 every month.
• If the contribution amount is between Rs 501- Rs 1001, then the penalty amount will be Rs 5 every month.
• If the contribution amount is above Rs 1001, then the penalty amount is Rs 10 every month.
• If making the payments is discontinued then the following measures are taken:
• If the account’s payments are not done for six months then the subscriber’s account will be frozen.
• If the payments are not done for twelve months then the subscriber’s account will be deactivated.
• If the payments of the account are not done for twenty-four months then the account will be permanently closed.

So as to avoid the late payments, the Atal Pension Scheme always sends requests of the due date till the payment is done.

Thus, the APY Scheme is a good way to provide the pension of a fixed amount to the workers in an unorganized sector who lack an access to the social security.