COVID-19 has brought about many changes in the way we live during the year 2020, and the situation has not changed much until now. The pandemic taught us the importance of having an emergency fund corpus and liquid savings that are accessible. It also taught us that enrolling for a government-backed saving scheme can keep us afloat at the times of despair.
In this light, Atal Pension Yojana (APY), the government-offered social security scheme has received over 52 lakh new subscribers during the financial year 2020-21 so far. The total enrolment for the scheme sums up to 2.75 crore at the end of December 2020. Out of the 52 lakh new subscribers, State Bank of India has onboarded 15 lakh new subscribers during the year.
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Despite the pandemic’s threat to the public, the number of new subscribers to the APY scheme is remarkable and applaud-worthy. The Pension Regulatory Fund and Development Authority of India (PFRDA), the statutory authority that manages APY scheme, has appreciated banks’ efforts for onboarding such a huge number of subscribers in this year. PFRDA also mentioned that it would continue its endeavour to popularise the scheme through various campaigns and constant bankers’ engagement. They are looking forward to introducing digital onboarding.
To be more specific about the APY scheme, a guaranteed pension scheme provides retirement benefits once the subscriber attains 60 years of age. The minimum guaranteed monthly pension of Rs.1,000 up to Rs.5,000 in the multiples of Rs.1,000.
Any citizen aged between 18 and 40 years having a savings account can subscribe for the scheme. Providing Aadhaar and mobile number while registering for the scheme is necessary to receive periodic updates on the APY account.
For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at apoorva.n@cleartax.in
