Government considering hike in pension age limit under Atal Pension Yojana

New Delhi: The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has submitted a proposal to increase the limit of pension and age under Atal Pension Yojana (APY).

The same is under examination in consultation with PFRDA, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamanin, in a written reply to a Parliament question in Rajya Sabha said.

APY is administered by PFRDA through NPS architecture. The minimum age of joining APY is 18 years and maximum age is 40 years. Therefore, minimum period of contribution by the subscriber under APY would be 20 years or more.

APY is open to all bank account holders who are not members of any statutory social security scheme. Accordingly, Mudra beneficiaries, Self Help Group (SHG) members and Anganwadi workers who are citizen of India and fall between 18-40 years of age are eligible to join APY.

APY is focused on the unorganised sector workers which constitute more than 85 percent of the workforce.

Under this scheme, the guaranteed minimum pension of Rs 1,000 per month or Rs 2,000-5,000 per month will be given at the age of 60 years depending on the contributions by subscribers.

The spouse of a subscriber is also eligible for pension and the nominee receives the accumulated pension wealth.