In a master circular issued on Feb 4, the Pension Fund Regulatory Authority (PFRDA) stated the revised fees for opening a National Pension System (NPS) account through online as well as offline methods. These fees are meant for NPS (citizens and corporate), and for the NPS-Lite models, which are for the economically weaker sections of society.
Says the PFRDA master circular, “The charges that can be collected for services rendered in respect of the NPS-Vatsalya account at any time shall be the same as the charges that be collected under NPS- All Citizen Model as stipulated by the Authority from time to time.”
Updated Charges
Initiation Of NPS Account: The initial registration fee for the subscribers may increase up to Rs 400. There is a charge of up to 0.50 per cent of the contribution amount for the initial contribution, which is capped at Rs 25,000. Moreover, fees will be included with all future contributions.
Non-Monetary Transactions: For all non-monetary transactions, a fee of up to Rs 30 may be applied.
e-NPS transactions: In such transactions, a fee of up to 0.20 per cent of the contribution will be levied, subject to a maximum of Rs 10,000. There will be an upfront collection of this. This is only for NPS all citizen and tier-II accounts.
Processing Of Exit/Withdrawal: In case of exit or withdrawal, up to 0.125 per cent of the corpus, a maximum of Rs 500, will be collected upfront.
It is to be noted that the service charge structure shall be effective from 31.01.2025. The Point of Presence (POP) will still have the option to negotiate charges with the subscribers. However, the charges need to be within the maximum charge structure as laid down by the authority.
The changes have brought about a clearer and more structured approach to fees with standardizations that were not present before.
