What is Atal Pension Yojana Scheme

About Atal Pension Yojana benefits

The Atal Pension Yojana is aimed at people who want to save a small amount of money for a fixed pension (primarily daily wage workers who cannot save for their future) once they retire. People working in the private sector, who are neither tax-payees nor a part of any other social security scheme, can also enjoy its benefits. In addition, all eligible family members can subscribe to APS in their names for higher pension plan benefits for their families.

Atal Pension Yojana Scheme Details

The Government will co-contribute 50% of the total contribution or Rs. 1000 per annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber, who joins the scheme during the period 1st June 2015 to 31st March 2016, and who is not a beneficiary of any social security scheme, and is not an income tax payer.

• By investing through this scheme, one can get a fixed pension ranging from Rs. 1,000 to a maximum of Rs. 5,000/month.

• The eligible Atal Pension Yojana age limit is 18 and up to 40 years.

• One will start receiving the pension at the age of 60.

• The minimum period of contribution will be 20 years.

• An individual can exit from the Atal Pension Yojana benefits only in cases of exceptional circumstances, such as the death of a beneficiary or a terminal disease. However, a voluntary exit can also be made. Nevertheless, the subscribers will be refunded their contribution, which is explicitly made, along with the returns after deducting the account maintenance charges, investment management fee, etc. Additionally, no government contribution will be offered to subscribers who voluntarily exit before attaining 60 years of age.

• Any false declaration in the application form will lead to a loss of the Government's contribution and a penalty.

 Feature of the Atal Pension Yojana Benefits

Feature to Increase Contribution: As explained earlier, you are eligible to receive a pension from Atal Pension Yojana benefits after you become 60 years old. The amount you get as a pension depends on your contribution to this scheme. Various contributions determine different pension amounts. Therefore, this can be a way for you to decide to make more significant contributions to get a higher pension later. To change the amount of corpus, the Government of India allows increasing and decreasing facilities for the amount of contribution. This facility is provided once every year.

Automatic Debit: One of the best parts of the Atal Pension Yojana benefits is the feature of automatic debit. As a beneficiary of this scheme, you can link your bank account with your Atal Pension Yojana benefits account, and your monthly contribution is directly debited. However, the account you link with your Atal Pension Yojana (APY full form) account should have a sufficient balance for automatic debit falling, which can attract a penalty.

Policies to Withdraw: As a beneficiary of the Atal Pension Yojana (APY full form) scheme, when you attain the age of 60 years, you are eligible to annuitize the whole corpus amount, which is you can get the pension monthly after closing this scheme with your respective bank. It is to be noted here that you are allowed to exit the scheme before 60 years only in case of terminal illness or death. In case of death before 60 years, the spouse is entitled to get a pension. In such a case, the spouse can either choose the pension benefits or exit the APY with the accumulated corpus. However, if you decide to exit Atal Pension Yojana benefits before 60 years of your age, you will only get cumulative contributions and earned interest thereon.

Penalty Terms: If you delay the payment of the contribution, then the below-mentioned penalties are charged:

• For monthly contributions up to Rs. 100, Re. 1 will be charged monthly.

• For monthly contributions between Rs. 101 to 500/-, Rs. 2 will be charged monthly.

• For monthly contributions between Rs 501/- to 1000/-, Rs. 5 will be charged per month.

• For monthly contributions more than Rs 1001/-. Rs. 10 will be charged.

Tax exemption from the Atal Pension Yojana benefits: A subscriber of the Atal Pension Yojana benefits account can enjoy tax benefits, including the additional deduction of Rs.50,000 under Section 80CCD (1) of the Income Tax Act. In addition, the savings earned, or the Atal Pension Yojana maturity amount, are exempted from tax.

Eligibility For Atal Pension Yojana benefits

The eligibility criteria to join the Atal Pension Yojana benefits are as under:

• Consumers with valid savings accounts qualify to open an Atal Pension Yojana account.

• The Atal Pension Yojana age limit must be between 18 and 40 years.

• Each applicant must have a mobile number that he has to register at the time of application.

• The Government also gives a co-contribution for the Atal Pension Yojana maturity amount to certain subscribers of the Atal Pension Yojana.

Atal Pension Yojana scheme details for Monthly Contribution Amount

• Subscribers joining at 18 years of age must contribute Rs 42 or Rs 210 monthly to get a minimum guaranteed monthly pension of Rs 1000 or Rs 5000, respectively.

• The monthly contribution is payable by the auto debit facility from the subscriber's savings bank account.

• Quarterly and Half Yearly modes of contribution are also available for subscribers.

Atal Pension Yojana benefits Contribution Chart

If you want to invest in Atal Pension Yojana benefits every month, you must contribute per the table below. The monthly contribution amount depends on the entry age and the target income per month that you want after retirement.

Co-contribution Scheme by the Government of India in the Atal Pension Yojana Scheme Details

The co-contribution made by the Government of India is available for five years, i.e., from the Financial Year 2015-16 to 2019-20, for the subscribers who join the scheme during the period from 1st June 2015 to 31st March 2016 and who are not covered by any Statutory Social Security Scheme, and are not income tax payers. The Government co-contribution is payable to eligible Permanent Retirement Account Numbers (PRANs) by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) after receiving confirmation from the Central Record Keeping Agency. The contribution by the Government is, however, made for the subscribers who have paid all the installments for the year. Government co-contribution will be credited to the subscriber's savings bank account or post office savings bank account. The contribution made is 50% of the total contribution subject to a maximum of Rs 1000/- at the end of the financial year. The beneficiaries covered under statutory social security schemes are not eligible to receive Government co-contribution under APY.

Co-contributions by the State Government to Atal Pension Yojana Benefits

The State Government is also legitimate to offer a supplementary co-contribution to the Atal Pension Yojana benefits endorsers in their particular states. As needed, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority would give the procedure for this, in conferment to the rules set by the Central Government.

Subscriber Enrolment/Payment

Consumers with valid bank accounts can associate with the Atal Pension Yojana benefits plan and use the auto-debit facility to make half-yearly, quarterly, and monthly payments. The endorser must maintain the prescribed balance in the savings bank account to make a payment on the due date to escape the penalty for late payments. The due date to contribute monthly is determined based on the first month's contribution amount. If the endorser does not make payment of the monthly contributions on a regular basis, then the APY account can be closed, and the amount of contribution of the Government of India will be penalized. Any incorrect proclamation done regarding the subscriber's eligibility will lead to the entire amount of the contribution by the Government and the interest being penalized. To prevent conflicts from the Atal Pension Yojna benefits, you must submit the primary KYC documents to identify the spouse, nominees, and beneficiaries. Every endorser has to choose an amount of pension between Rs. 1000 and Rs. 5000 and ensure that the contributions are made accurately. The Atal Pension Yojana benefits plan also provides adaptability to endorsers and can boost or decline the monthly pension amount when they contribute. If an Atal Pension Yojana benefits subscriber wants to change the fixed pension amount, he can do it once a year, i.e., in April. Once an endorser joins the APY plan, he will be given an acknowledgment receipt by the bank, which will contain the details such as the monthly contribution, PRAN, and guaranteed pension amount.

Operational Work of Atal Pension Yojana scheme Details

The Government of India provides the Atal pension Yojana benefits Scheme, and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) administers it. The APY scheme consists of the National Pension System's institutional architecture to enroll new endorsers. The account opening form and the offer document of the Atal Pension Yojana benefits scheme are formulated by PFRDA.

Enrolment Agencies

Aggregators under the service providers (Points of Presence-POP) and the Swavalamban Plan would get enrolled through the architecture of the National Pension System. Banks, being the POPs or the aggregators, can employ micro insurance agents, mutual fund agents, BCs, and non-banking aggregators to be the facilitators for the activities linked with operations. Banks are also permitted to share their incentives regarding this scheme from the PFRDA or the Government of India as they find fit.

Funding of the Atal Pension Yojana Scheme Details

The Government of India offers a guaranteed fixed pension, the Atal Pension Yojana benefits to the endorsers, co-contributing 50% of the additional amount annually and compensating the cost of promotional and developmental activities and the incentives for making the contribution collection agencies.

How to Download Atal Pension Yojana Form

The Atal Pension Yojana benefits account opening form can be easily availed offline from the nearby bank branch participating in the scheme. However, the subscribers can also download the form for free from the official website of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). Alternatively, the APY subscription form can also be availed from different banking websites that include all the public and private sector central banks operating in India.

How to Open Atal Pension Yojana benefits Account?

The following steps should be followed for the Atal Pension Yojana benefits Scheme:

Step 1: All nationalized banks offer the Atal Pension Yojana benefits scheme. The individuals can visit the bank's branch office for the Atal pension yojana registration and open an account.

Step 2: The APY application form can be availed online by visiting the official website of the bank or from the website of PFRDA. The subscribers can download the Atal pension yojana application form from the website.

Step 3: The application form for the Atal Pension Yojana benefits is available in languages like Tamil, English, Telegu, Bangla, Marathi, Odia, Gujarati, and Kannada.

Step 4: The Atal pension yojana scheme details online form must be filled out correctly and submitted at the bank.

Step 5: Along with the filled form, the subscriber will need to provide a valid mobile number and a photocopy of the Aadhaar card.

Step 6: Upon approval of the Atal pension yojana benefits application form, the individual will receive a confirmation message.

Apply for Atal Pension Yojana benefits Online

The subscriber form of Atal Pension Yojana benefits is available online on banks' and third parties websites. Consumers must download the subscriber form, fill in the necessary details, and submit it to their respective banks. Other mandatory documents must also be attached, and the applicants can get their Atal Pension Yojana benefits account opened quickly. You cannot make direct applications for the APY scheme in India, and it is necessary to submit these forms to any of the nearest branches of the bank.

How to fill APY Form

The Atal Pension Yojana benefits Subscriber registration form consists of the following fields that the subscriber or applicant has to fill in:

The subscriber has to sign Atal Pension Yojana benefits Application form and submit it to the bank. The Atal Pension Scheme detail form also contains an acknowledgment section named "Acknowledgement-Subscriber Registration for Atal Pension Yojana (APY full form)," which must be filled in by the respective bank. The applicants do not have to fill this section. The bank will give you back the receipt of acknowledgment once your application gets processed.

NOTE FOR APPLICANT:

A few fields in the application form are marked with a sign of asterisks indicating that all these marked fields have to be necessarily filled. Furthermore, the applicant must fill out the Atal Pension Yojana benefits application form in cursive writing, which must be completed using block letters only.

Atal Pension Scheme Alerts for Subscribers

Subscribers of the Atal Pension Yojana can receive alerts on a regular basis about the credit of contributions, account balance, and any other activities related to the account via SMS alerts. In addition, subscribers of Atal Pension Yojana benefits can modify specific details such as phone number, the nominee's name, address, etc., hassle-free whenever they want to do so.

Registering a valid mobile number under the Atal Pension Yojana benefits scheme is necessary so that the endorsers can be touched via SMS alerts to the respective Atal Pension Yojana benefits accounts. This will assist in knowing their due dates, arranging their auto-debits, and keeping a check on the available balance in the Atal Pension Yojana benefits accounts.

Swavalamban Plan to Atal Pension scheme Transfer

Current subscribers of the Swavalamban plan will be automatically drifted to the Atal Pension Yojana benefits, with an extra option of selecting to pull out, provided they fulfill the necessary eligibility criteria. The Government's five-year co-contribution may not, however, outstrip all the subscribers. For instance, if a current Swavalamban endorser has received a contribution from Government for two years, then under the APY scheme, he will get only 3-years of co-contribution from the Government. Suppose any existing Swavalamban endorsers wish to choose out of the APY plan. In that case, the contribution by the Government will be given only until the years 2016/2017 if they fall under the eligibility criteria for the Atal Pension Yojana benefits. In addition, such endorsers can persist under the National Pension System Swavalamban plan until they attain the exit age.

The movement will be made chiefly for the endorsers who have qualified for the Atal Pension Yojana age limit and attained the age of 18 and 40. To make the changes without commotion, the aggregator will have to assist in the progress of the migration process by offering complete support. Endorsers who want to move up to the Atal Pension Yojana plan can also get hold of the nearest bank to shift from a Swavalamban account to an Atal Pension Yojana account that contains Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) details.

The subscribers of Swavalamban who have attained an age beyond 40 can also choose to abandon the Swavalamban plan by entirely withdrawing the complete amount, all-encompassing the principal amount and the earned interest on it. Alternatively, they can opt to continue until they attain an age of 60 years so as to fall under the eligibility criteria to get the annuities.

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