National Pension Scheme (NPS)

National Pension Scheme (NPS)

What is National Pension System?

A substantial corpus creation for one’s retirement phase is an essential aspect to take care of during financial planning. It not only allows individuals to fulfil their expenditure requirements but also allows them to sail through their post-retirement life with the least hassles.

To address this concern of the growing senior citizen demography in the country, the Indian Government thus introduced schemes like the National Pension System or NPS. The scheme allows for systemised savings during one’s working years, thus inculcating a financial discipline among individuals to save for the future.

An initiative undertaken by the Government of India, the National Pension System seeks to provide retirement benefits to all citizens of India, even from the unorganised sectors. Regulated and administered by the PFRDA or Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority under the PFRDA Act 2013, NPS is a defined, voluntary contribution scheme that is market-linked and managed by professional fund managers.

Contributions made by individual subscribers to a National Pensions Scheme under the system accumulate until retirement and corpus growth continues via market-linked returns. Subscribers also have an option to exit this plan before retirement or opt for superannuation. However, this scheme ensures that a part of savings is utilised to provide a subscriber with retirement benefits.

Thus, on retirement, exit or superannuation, at least 40% of the contribution is utilised for the procurement of lifetime pension via the purchase of an annuity. The remaining funds are paid to the subscriber in a lump sum.

Features and Advantages of the National Pension System

a) Liquidity and flexibility via two different account types.

The National Pension System allows individuals to make systematic investments via either of the following two accounts. Account opening with the National Pension System is followed by the generation of a unique Permanent Retirement Account Number or PRAN issued to each subscriber. Fund management, including contribution to this scheme, is done via PRAN.

Tier-I account

Tier-II account

The former functions as a pension account and withdrawals from it are subject to specific restrictions. An individual can open this account with a minimum deposit of Rs. 500.

As for Tier-II accounts, they are voluntary accounts providing liquidity of funds via investments and withdrawals. The minimum deposit one needs to make for a Tier II account is Rs. 250

However, investments in Tier-II accounts are allowed only when an active Tier I account in the subscriber’s name exists.

Thus, as per the National Pension System architecture, individuals can subscribe to the National Pensions Scheme with PFRDA-appointed intermediaries via the two accounts mentioned above. These intermediaries can include –

Trustee banks

Custodians

CRA or Central Recordkeeping Agency

NPS trust

PoP or Points of Presence

Annuity Service Providers.

b) Flexibility of investment via two different options

Subscribers can opt for either of the following two investment options, thus providing the flexibility of choice.

Auto choice

It is available as a default option for subscribers as per the system. Fund investments under this option are managed automatically by an appointed fund manager as per an investor’s age profile.

Active choice

Under this option, individuals are free to decide among available asset classes in which to invest their funds. Also, they can allocate different percentages of contributed funds to be invested in with a maximum cap of 50% for Asset Class E or Equities. Other Asset Classes include Class C, i.e., Corporate Debt Securities and Class G or Government Securities.

Alongside, subscribers also have an option to switch their investment options as well as change their fund manager. These options are, however, subject to certain constraints.

c) Option to make a partial withdrawal

Another of NPS scheme benefits includes an option to withdraw their contributions partially. It gives individuals partial accessibility to their funds saved over the years, thus allowing them to meet financial needs before retirement during emergencies.

As per the rules regarding partial withdrawal, a subscriber can make withdrawals of their Tier I scheme contribution up to a maximum limit of 25%.

Withdrawals are, however, subject to the following clauses.

Contributions up to a minimum of 10 years must be made for the partial withdrawal facility to apply.

Also, there should be a minimum gap of 5 years between two consecutive withdrawals.

d) Tax benefits

Income tax benefits for National Pension Scheme investments are available under the following sections.

Applicable Sections under the Income Tax Act 1961 Tax Benefits Allowed

U/S 80CCD (1) Own contribution of a subscriber towards Tier I investments tax deductible within the total ceiling of Rs.1.5 lakh u/s 80C.

U/S 80CCD 1(B) In addition to deductions under section 80CCD (1), subscribers are allowed up to Rs.50,000 as deductions towards Tier I contributions.

U/S 80CCD (2) Contribution of an employer towards Tier I investments is eligible for deduction up to 14% for central government contributions and up to 10% for others. This deduction is over and above the deduction limit applicable u/s 80C.

Other tax benefits on NPS Tier I investments include –

Up to 25% of Tier I contributions withdrawn by a subscriber are exempt from tax.

Annuity purchase from National Pension Scheme corpus is tax-exempt. However, income generated from such annuity in the following years is taxable.

Lump-sum withdrawal of up to 40% of an NPS corpus after a subscriber turns 60 is exempt from tax.

Thus, after 60 years of age if the total corpus created through National Pension System amounts to Rs. 20 Lakh, a lump sum withdrawal of 40%, i.e., Rs.8 lakh will not attract any tax. Further, if you utilise the remaining 60% of funds for annuity purchase, the entire corpus will be tax-free. Only that, income generated from the annuity will be taxable.

FAQs –

Who can make investments with the National Pension System?

Any Indian citizen between the age group of 18 and 60 complying with the KYC requirements and qualifying for either of the NPS models can invest with the system.

Is saving with the National Pension System allowed for an NRI?

Yes, an NRI can opt for the National Pension Scheme for retirement corpus creation provided he/she maintains the residential status until exit from the scheme.

How would I know if my bank serves as a PoP for the scheme or not?

You can check the list of authorised PoPs at NPS’s official website to confirm whether your bank serves as a PoP or not.

Can an individual invest in more than one National Pension Scheme?

No, the scheme comes with a unique PRAN for each individual and thus does not allow multiple accounts for a single person.