New Delhi:
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA) has registered 23 per cent growth in its subscriber base under the flagship NPS(National Pension Scheme) and APY schemes to over 4.24 crore by end of March 31, 2021, the regulator said on Thursday.
The last year was an extremely challenging year because of COVID-19 restrictions, but still there has been growth of around 23 per cent in the subscriber numbers, PFRDA Chairman Supratim Bandyopadhyay told reporters in a virtual conference, sharing the numbers.
Of this, there was almost 33 per cent growth in Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers and more than 77 lakh new customers were added, he added.
However only six lakh new subscriptions were added for the NPS during last fiscal.The APY subscribers as of March 31, 2021, were more than 2.8 crore.
The total assets under management (AUM) witnessed a growth of 38 per cent to over Rs 5.78 lakh crore by the end of FY21, he said.
Bandyopadhyay had informed that the PFRDA is planning raise the maximum entry age into PFRDA schemes to 70 years from the current 65.
For those, who are joining the NPS beyond 60 years of age, will now be allowed to be there until the age of 75 years, he said.
“For those, who will be joining the NPS beyond 60 years of age, will be allowed to stay in the scheme until the age of 75 years,'' he said.
Also the pension regulator is planning to increase the withdrwal limit for which an investor doesn't have to by any annuities from Rs 2 lakh to 5 lakh.
Bandyopadhyay had informed that during FY 2020-21, NPS players have been able to offer 12.03 per cent in their equity schemes, 10.2 per cent in corporate bond schemes, 9.66 per cent in G-Sec schemes, 9-94 in central government schemes and 9.83 per cent in state government plans.
PFRDA plans to add 1 crore lakh new subscribers in the current fiscal.
As on 31 March, 2021, both NPS and APY combined together, it was having the new subscribers’ base to the tune of 83 lakh.
“In the current fiscal, we plan to add 90 lakh new customers under APY, and 10 lakh new subscribers under NPS,” Bandyopadhyay said today.
As of now PFRDA already has seven pension fund managers (PFMs) and two more players including Axis bank wirh partnership of Axis Mutual Fund will start their operations soon, he said.
Moreover, PFRDA has decided to go for on-tap licensing where new players fulfilling the eligibility can apply for licenses any time of the year.
Talking about the capital requirement for PFMs, he said that earlier it was Rs 25 crore and now it has been increased to Rs 50 crore.
However, PFRDA has provided six months’ time to bring in additional capital for the existing PFMs.
The regulator is looking at increase the number of players to 10 by the fiscal-end.
Since April 1, PFRDA has already brought differential commission for PFMs, depending on the size of business they are doing. Earlier, the commission was being given at a flat rate of 1 basis point disregard of the business PFMS were doing. Now, it can go as high as 5 bsp.
The only thing that the PFM will have to apply for POP license to have more commission.
So far, SBI Pension Fund, HDFC Pension Fund, ICICI Pension Fund and Aditya Birla Pension Fund are the four PFMs who have already applied for POP.
On guaranteed products, he said that the PFRDA’s Pension Advisory Committee has approved these new set of products.
However, designing the product is important and the regulator will soon float RPF for actuarial firms for developing the features of these products, he said.
The PFRDA Act makes it mandatory to have at least one guaranteed product in place.
On FDI hike, he said that 49 per cent FDI hike has already happened in the pension fund sector. Because it has happened indirectly, we are unable to quantify the amount, he said.
He said that on an average, each retail NPS subscriber is contributing to the tune of Rs 18,200 whereas for a corporate subscriber it is Rs 9,900. In contrast, the central government employee was contributing Rs 8.15 lakh on an average..
Tamil Nadu and West Bengal are the two states which have not subscribed to NPS as yet..
National Pension System (NPS) mainly caters to organised sectors including all government employees in centre and states, while the APY is mainly meant for the employees working in the unorganised sector in the country.