Atal Pension Yojana Investment Rule Changes From October 1, 2022

Atal Pension Yojana is a social security plan administered by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). The scheme has been touted as the centre had been concerned about the old age income security of the working poor and is focused on encouraging and enabling them to save for their retirement. To address the longevity risks among the workers in unorganized sector and to encourage them to voluntarily save for their retirement.

Brief about the Atal Pension Yojana

The scheme introduced by the government in its 2015-16 budget focuses on all citizens in the unorganised sector.

As per the scheme, based on the contribution of the APY member, he or she would be eligible to receive a minimum guaranteed pension of between Rs. 1000 to Rs. 5000 from 60 years of age. In case of death of the APY subscriber, the APY pension would be received by the member's spouse and if both the member and the spouse dies then the corpus accumulated till 60 years of age of the subscriber shall be paid to the nominee.

Atal Pension Yojana new rules to come into effect from October 1, 2022

As per the new rules governing the APY scheme that will become effective from October 1, 2022, income tax payers shall not be eligible to open an APY account. So, in a case if the subscriber who joins the APY scheme on or after October 1, 2022 is an income tax payer then his account shall will be closed.

In this regard, the ministry of finance has issued a notification which says, "Provided that from 1st October,2022, any citizen who is or has been an income-tax payer, shall not be eligible to join APY. In case a subscriber, who joined on or after 1st October, 2022, is subsequently found to have been an income-tax payer on or before the date of application, the APY account shall be closed and the accumulated pension wealth till date would be given to the subscriber."

For this purpose, 'income tax payer' means a person who is liable to pay income tax as per the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961.