Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Crosses 3 Cr Subscribers With 79 Lakh New Additions, PFRDA

PFRDA announced on Thursday that the number of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers had surpassed 3 Crore by the end of March 2021, with over 79 lakh new subscribers joining the system in 2020-21. According to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), more than 79 lakh new Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers joined during the fiscal year 2020-21, bringing the overall enrollment numbers to over 3.02 crore as of March 31, 2021. Around 70 percent of the 3.02 crore accounts opened under APY were opened by public sector banks, whereas 19 percent were generated by rural banks of specific regions. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) said in a release that "Pace of enrolments has been encouraging especially in the second half of 2020-21 as it took less than six months to enrol 50 lakh new APY subscribers to reach 3 crore enrolments from 2.5 crore enrolments."

SBI reported with 28 percent of the 79.14 lakh new additions in 2020-21, or 22.07 lakh subscribers, followed by Canara Bank and Indian Bank, which counted for 5.89 lakh and 5.17 lakh subscribers, respectively. Around 1 and 5 lakh new APY accounts were opened by Bank of Baroda, Airtel Payment Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Aryavart Bank, and Baroda UP Bank in 2020-21. Airtel Payment Bank, SBI, Indian Bank, Bank of India, Vidharbha Konkan Gramin Bank, Jharkhand Rajya Gramin Bank, Karnataka Gramin Vikas Bank, and Tripura Gramin Vikas Bank all operated well, according to the PFRDA. It further said that Uttarbanga Kshetriya Gramin Bank, Assam Gramin Vikash Bank, Bangiya Gramin Vikash Bank, Aryavart Bank, and Tamilnad Mercantile Bank all performed well this year, exceeding the goals set by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance.

More than 20 lakh APY subscribers were registered in 5 states as of March 31, 2021, according to the state-by-state rollout. As of March 31, 2021, Uttar Pradesh led the way with 45.4 lakh APY enrollments, followed by Bihar with 28.22 lakh, West Bengal with 23.92 lakh, Maharashtra with 23.17 lakh, and Tamilnadu with 22.57 lakh. As of March 31, 2021, the other six states namely Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Odisha had enrolled between 10 and 20 lakh subscribers in the APY. Over the last six years, the demand for a regular pension of Rs 1000 has risen. As of 31 March 2021, about 77 percent of APY subscribers have chosen a Rs 1000 monthly pension amount, compared to 38 percent of subscribers who have chosen a Rs 1000 monthly pension amount as of 31 March 2016. In addition, the gender disparity in APY enrolments has widened as female subscribers have raised their attendance. Female subscribers rose from 37% to 44% as of March 31, 2021, compared to 37% as of March 31, 2016. The age profile of APY subscribers also follows a pattern of younger enrolment, according to the regulator. More than 43% of subscribers enrolled on March 31, 2021, were between the age group of 18 and 25, increased from 29% as on March 31, 2016.

According to PFRDA, the number of central government employees who subscribed to the National Pension System (NPS) was increased by 3.74 percent to 21.61 lakh at the end of January 2021, while the number of state government employees increased by 7.44 percent to 50.43 lakh. The number of NPS subscribers increased by 31.72 percent to 14.95 lakh in the 'all citizen sector,' while it increased by 17.71 percent to 10.90 lakh in the corporate sector. At the end of January 2021, the number of NPS Lite subscribers was 43.07 lakh. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA) manages the National Pension Scheme (NPS), which is a government-backed pension scheme. The regulator will shortly introduce five major changes under NPS in order to make it more appealing and extend its presence throughout the investors of the country.