In light of Prime Minister’s “Digital
India” campaign on promoting e-governance for providing last mile
connectivity through extensive use of ICT (Information and
Communications Technology) platforms, Pension Fund Regulatory and
Development Authority (PFRDA) has been pursuing the development and
operationalization of online transaction facilities for the prospective
as well as existing subscribers of NPS.
PFRDA introduced eNPS online portal
whereby PAN (Permanent Account Number) and savings bank account of new
subscribers to NPS who are already customers of the banks are accepted
as KYC with active participation of the banks acting as POPs for opening
of accounts under NPS.
PFRDA has received feedback from
prospective subscribers and other stakeholders that those who
voluntarily seek to use Aadhaar as their document of identity for
availing of the eNPS online platform to join NPS should not be deprived
of this eNPS facility.
As the identity and address for such
account holders is established through e-KYC facility with the express
consent of the subscriber through One Time Password (OTP) and as Aadhaar
is a unique number, its use as a KYC document rules out the possibility
of opening duplicate retirement (PRAN) accounts. PFRDA has accordingly
revisited the issue and believes that enabling eAadhaar in addition to
PAN and bank account based KYC for the eNPS platform can reduce the cost
and time of operation and ensure wider coverage to the citizens of
India under the old age income security schemes and thus help in
fulfilling the mandate given to it under the provisions of the PFRDA
Act, 2013.
PFRDA has accordingly modified the eNPS
functionality to accept PAN and bank account or eAadhaar as the KYC
document for online registration of subscribers under NPS. With the
operationalization of this modified eNPS platform, the subscriber will
now have the following options for opening of account:
• Opening of account through any of the Points-of- Presence- Service Provider (POP-SP).
• Opening of account online using PAN and
net banking of the selected bank. In this case KYC verification is done
by the Bank. The PRAN gets activated only after KYC verification by
bank.
• Opening of account online using Aadhaar
No. and OTP received from UIDAI. In this case, the subscriber can
instantly get their PRAN generated and can contribute.
The eNPS platform using Aadhaar based KYC
verification is one of the options for any prospective subscriber to
join NPS and it is optional and purely voluntary on the part of the
prospective subscriber.
To register under NPS through eNPS using
Aadhaar, the prospective subscriber needs to have Aadhaar Number/Card
with access to the mobile number registered with Aadhaar.
With the use of this Aadhaar based KYC
verification, the subscriber would be able to open his NPS account
online. The Prospective subscriber will require to follow the undernoted
process for opening of NPS account:
• The prospective subscriber will go to
eNPS platform hosted on NPS Trust website www.npstrust.org.in and enter
Aadhaar and validate the same using OTP (Sent on the mobile number
registered with Aadhaar).
• Then he will be required to fill up the mandatory details like choice of Pension Fund, Investment Scheme, nominations etc.
• Address and Date of Birth details will be auto-populated from details available with Aadhaar.
• He will be required to provide a mobile number and email ID (Mandatory requirement).
• He will be required to Scan and upload
the signature. Subscriber may also upload a scanned photograph, in case
he/she wishes to replace the photo obtained from Aadhaar, if the Aadhaar
photo is blurred or hazy.
• He will be required to make online payment (Minimum amount of Rs 500/-).
• After completion of this process, the PRAN will be generated instantly.
Subscriber will be required to print the
form, paste photograph, affix signature and submit the physical form to
CRA within a specified period of time while continuing contributing
online.
A prospective subscriber can visit NPS Trust websitewww.npstrust.org.in and select NPS Online menu to register and contribute to NPS.
The complete information about eNPS is available on PFRDA website www.pfrda.org.in and also on NPS Trust websitewww.npstrust.org.in .
Through this facility, it is expected that
the subscriber will have multiple advantages like seamless on boarding
experience where he need not visit a Point of Presence and can register
from anywhere through an internet connection, contribution with minimum
cost of transaction and reduction in errors resulting from various
manual activities.
