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As of 31 March, the overall National Pension System (NPS) corpus stood at Rs 5.78 lakh crore, as on 25 September, the total NPS corpus increased to Rs 6.67 lakh crore. As per the internal assessment, there is anticipation that the overall NPS corpus will reach Rs 7.5 lakh crore.
As NPS is gaining interest, there is speculation that assets under management will probably increase by 30% to Rs 7.5 lakh crore within the end of FY22 as per Supratim Bandyopadhyay, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman.
The Central Government employee subscriber base increased 4.4%, i.e. 22.24 lakh as of 25 September; the state government subscriber base grew 10%, i.e. 53.79 lakh. The subscriber base as of 25 September stood at 4.6 crore, increased by 24% compared to a year ago and has increased by 8.5% since 31 March 2021.
To encourage more competition amidst fund management, recently, PFRDA agreed to two new entrants into NPS fund management — Max Life Insurance and Tata Asset Management. The PFRDA chairman also mentioned that the Axis Mutual Fund is also enrolling as a fund manager. As of now, there are seven fund managers:
- HDFC Pension Management
- Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund
- ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company
- SBI Pension Funds
- LIC Pension Fund
- Aditya Birla Sun Life Pension Management
- UTI Retirement Solutions
In June, PFRDA allowed the engagement of individuals working as agents or business correspondents within their current business structure to allow the distribution of pension schemes.
The PFRDA chairman mentioned that individual distributors play a crucial role in NPS expansion among the masses. The regulator has also been checking if there could be a revision in the fees paid to distributors. Currently, 0.25% of the contribution is being paid by a subscriber.
Considering the longevity and working life span of individuals crossing 60 years, the regulator has revised the entry age criteria for NPS to 70, which was previously 65 years. The exit age criteria have been changed from 70 years to 75 years for all citizen and corporate schemes.
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For any clarifications/feedback on the topic, please contact the writer at bhavana.pn@cleartax.in
Bhavana is a Senior Content Writer handling the GST vertical. She is committed, professional, and has a flair for writing. When away from work, she enjoys watching movies and playing with her son. One thing she can’t resist is SHOPPING! Her favourite quote is: “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”.
