ONE MORE CLARIFICATION REGARDING NJCA’s STAND ON NEW PENSION SCHEME (NPS)

ONE MORE CLARIFICATION REGARDING NJCA’s STAND ON NEW PENSION SCHEME (NPS)

QUERY —

Just like the issues of Salary hike, Fitment formula or parity of Pension, the issue of NPS is common to all Central Govt. Departments. In spite of that, this issue appears to be less highlighted. I represent a unit where 80% of the employees belong to NPS and all of us are aware of the pros & cons of the scheme and we are really concerned about our future

Com. S. Das, Circle Secretary, AIPAEA (NFPE), Postal Accounts, Assam Circle, Guwahati.

REPLY —–

Thanks for your concern. The problem of NPS employees are well taken care of by the NJCA. Please see the Press Statement issued by NJCA on 6th July 2016 after taking the decision to defer the strike which is published in confederation website. The last paragraph reads as follows——- “The NJCA particularly notes that the Govt. has set up a separate committee for reviewing the New Pension Scheme, which has been a matter of concern to all employees and workers who are recruited to Govt. services after 01.01.2004.” Please also see the para -12 of the Press Communique issued by the Govt. through Press Information Bureau immediately after the Cabinet decision on 29th June 2016 which reads as ——— “Para-12— The Cabinet also decided to constitute a separate committee to suggest measures for streamlining the implementation of New Pension System (NPS)”. Cabinet decision is taken as it is one of the important demand of the Charter of demands of NJCA submitted to Govt. NJCA shall take follow up action on this particular demand as all of us are very much concerned about this important demand. This demand is directly linked to the policy of the NDA Govt. as all of you are aware that it is the previous NDA Govt. which took a Cabinet decision in 2003 to implement New Contributory Pension Scheme to Central Govt. Employees from 01.01.2004.

M. Krishnan 

Secretary General

Confederation

Source : http://confederationhq.blogspot.in/

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Tax benefit available under National Pension System (NPS)

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

B- 14/A, Chhatrapati shivaji Bhawan

Qutab Institutional Area,

Katwaria Sarai, New Delhi – 110 016

Phone: 011-26517503

Fax:011 – 26517507

Website: www.pfrda.org.in

PFRDA/23/CORP/20/5

25th February, 2016

Dear sir,

Subject: Tax benefit available under National Pension System (NPS)

You would be aware that under the National Pension System (NPS), the subscribers can avail of tax benefit under Sec 80Cc D(1), up to 10% of their salary (Basic+DA) which is capped at Rs.1.50 lakhs under section 80CCE. From FY 2015-16, an additional tax deduction over and above the Rs.1.5 Lakhs, is available only to subscribers of NPS if they invest upto Rs.50,000 in NPS under Sec 80CCD(IB) of the Income Tax Act. any citizen of India including persons covered under old defined benefit pension scheme can open NPS account on voluntary basis and avail of the tax benefits u/s 80 CCD (IB) by contributing additionally Rs.50,000/- to NPS.

2. This additional tax benefit on investment upto Rs.50000/- provides an opportunity not only to those employees who are mandatorily covered under NPS, but also to all other employees who may be covered under old pension scheme/provident fund/superannuation fund, as well as to any other Indian citizen between 18 to 60 years of age, to avail of this tax benefit by opening an NPS account on voluntary basis and by investing the required amount.

3. PFRDA has provided an easy and convenient way to subscribe to NPS by recently introducing eNPS, which any individual can make use of to join NPS. A new subscriber can adopt the following eNPS methods for joining NOS:

(a) Using Aadhaar card issued by UIDAI which is authenticated through OTP received from UIDAI on the registered mobile of the applicant. In this case, the subscriber can instantly get himself/herself registered. He/she has to simply visit the eNPS module in NPS Trust website at www.npst.org.in.

(b) Using PAN and net banking of the selected bank chosen by the subscriber. In this case KYC verification is done by the Bank. The NPS account gets activated only after KYC verification by Bank. He/she has to go to eNPS module in NPS Trust website at www.npstrust.org.in.

4. A new subscriber can also open an account physically through any of the Points-of-Presence-Service Provider (POP-SP). The list is available on www.pfrda.org.in.

5. Therefore, your employees who are not NPS members can open their NPS account, and make contributions using any of the three options mentioned above. Existing NPS subscribers can also make additional contributions to avail of the tax benefit by using any of the options as stated above.

6. contribution upto Rs.50,000 in NPS for the additional tax benefit in the current year has to be made by 31-03-2016 and it is important that this message be conveyed to all your staff members and employees right upto the level of DDOs/DTOs, at the earliest. This will definitely help in their tax planning.

7. We request you to disseminate the above information to all concerned.

with regards,

Yours sincerely,

Sd/-

(Mamta Rohit)

chief General Manager

Source: http://pcdacc.gov.in/

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BSNL Clarification Regarding Employees Pension Scheme

BHARAT SANCHAR NIGAM LIMITED

(A Govt. of India Enterprise)

NO.500-85/CA-II/BSNL/EPF/2011/Vol.VI

Dated 19.01.2016

To,

The IFAs,

All Circles

BSNL

Sub.: Various Gazette Notifications issued by EPFO from Time to Time

This office has been receiving queries regarding Employees Pension Scheme.

In this regard, it is informed that EPFO vide its letter no. Actuarial / 18(2)2008/ Vol.III/7738 dated 29.08.2014 (copy enclosed) has already clarified that henceforth, EPS will apply only to EPF members whose pay at the time of becoming PF member is not more than Rs.15000/- per month on or after 01.09.2014. The entire employer and employee contribution shall remain in the Provident Fund and no diversion to EPS shall be made for all new PF members on or after 01.09.2014 having salary more than Rs. 15000/- at the time of joining.

In this connection, it is mentioned that this office has already issued instructions to act in accordance with the Gazette Notifications issued by EPFO, from time to time, without waiting for endorsement from the Corporate Office as the non compliance of the EPF guidelines attract penal provisions.

It is further mentioned that suitable action may be taken by the circles for rectification of any erroneous deduction made and deposited with EPFO under the EPS head for the employees covered under the above mentioned letter of EPFO dated 29.08.2014.

All BSNL units are hereby requested to kindly take necessary action in accordance with the instructions issued by EPFO.

Encl: As above

(V.M.Gupta)

Dy. General Manager (CA-III)

EMPLOYEES PROVIDENT FUND ORGANISATION

(Ministry of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India)

Head Office

Bhavishya Nidhi Bhawan, 14, Bhikaiji Came Place, New Delhi – 110 066.

No. Actuarial/18(2)2008/Vol.III/7738

Dated: 29.08.2014

To

All Addl. Central P.F. Commissioners (Zones)

All Regional P.F.Commissioners (In-Charge of Region)

Sub: Gazette Notification providing for increase in wage ceiling under EPS 1995 from Rs. 6500 to Rs.10000/- which shall come into force on and from the 1st day of Sept 2014.

Sir.

This is in continuation of this office circular No Actuary/l 8(2)2008/ Vol.111/5905 dated 23.07.2014 wherein it was informed that the Employees’ Pension Scheme 1995 is being amended to increase the wage ceiling from Rs.6500/- per month to Rs. 15,000/- per month in the Employees’ Pension Scheme, 1995.

2. The proposed amendments have since been noti red vide Gazette Notification No. GSR 609 (E) which shall come into force on and from the 1st day of September, 2014 (Copy of notification enclosed).

3. Accordingly, with effect from the 1st day of September, 2014, the pensionable salary for all cases of exit/death on or after 01.09.2014, for calculating pension shall be the average monthly pay drawn during the contributory period of service in the span of 60 months preceding the date of death/exit from the membership of the Employees” Pension Fund. The pensionable salary shall be calculated on pro-rata basis separately for the period up to 31.08.2014 up to wage ceiling of R.6,500/- per month and for the subsequent period upto the wage ceiling of Rs.15,000 per month. Similarly. the Withdrawal Benefit shall be based on the weighted wages at different wage ceilings. As already informed necessary amendments in the applicable on software are being carried out and the necessary software shall be released by I.S. Division at the earliest.

4. Accordingly, requisite steps may be taken so hat full details of wages for 60 months are available to settle the pension claims in accordance with the proposed modification. In this regard, Form 10-C & Form 10 D are also being redesigned to incorporate the above changes and shall be circulated soon. However in the meantime wage details be obtained by attaching additional sheet or giving details of 60 months of wages along with Form 10-D in respect of all members having date of exit from EPS 1995.

5. The members having date of exit from EPS, 1995 on account of superannuation/option date for commencement of early pension etc. prior to 01.09.2014 shall get Pensionary benefits on the basis of the existing pensionable salary calculations ie by taking 12 months average.

6. Further, with effect from 01.09.2014, wherever employer & employees have opted to contribute on salary exceeding Rs.6,500/- per month such employer & employees will have to exercise a fresh option to contribute on salary exceeding Rs.15,000/- per month subject to the condition that such member would have to contribute the Government’s share of contribution @ 1.16% on the salary exceeding Rs.15,000/- per month from his/her share of contribution. The fresh Option is to be exercised within a period of 6 months. It is essential to know with certainty the employee who are currently permitted to contribute to EPS on higher wages, so that fresh options can be called for. Accordingly, you may immediately flag all such cases of contribution on salary exceeding Rs.6,500/- per month and obtain fresh options in a time bound manner. It may be made known to the existing optees that if the fresh option is not exercised it shall be deemed that the employee has not Opted in allowing contribution over age ceiling and the contributions to Employees Pension Fund made above the wage ceiling in respect of the member shall be diverted to the Provident Fund account of the memer along with interest as declared under the Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme from time to time.

7. Furthermore, with effect from 01.09.2014 the provisions for contribution on higher salary has been deleted and as such no new options can be allowed to any member of EPS, 1995 on and after 01.09.2014.

8. As EPS will henceforth apply only to EPF members whose pay at the time of becoming PF member is not more than Rs. l5,000/- per month on or after 01.09.2014 the entire employer and employee contribution shall remain in the Provident Fund and no diversion to EPS shall be made for all new PF members on or after 01.09.2014 having salary more than 15,000/- at the time of joining. This must be ensured as any negligence on this issue may lead to unwarranted litigations.

9. The above actions may be taken without any deviation and officer in charge shall be responsible for compliance of above directions under his jurisdiction.

(This issues with the approval of CPFC)

Yours faithfully,

Sd/-

(CHANDRAMAULI CHAKRABORTY)

REGIONAL E.F.COMMISSIONER-I (Pensions)

Click to view the Copy of the BSNL Clarification

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Grievance redressal policy under National pension System in r/o PC of A (Fys)

OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL CONTROLLER OF ACCOUNTS (FYS)

10-A, S K BOSE ROADM KOLKATA – 700 001

MINISTRY OF DEFENCE

Ph- 033-22488878/5077-5080(Ext-665), Fax-03322480991, e-mail cda-cal@nic.in

Grievance redressal policy under National pension System in r/o PC of A (Fys)

Introduction:-

Office of the principal controller of factories has been envisaged to control the functioning of forty one branch AO under 9 Group controllers. The following PAO comes under purview of this office as being pr.PAO so far as NPS is concerned. The main aim/objective behind the creation in factory organization is to render efficient, correct, prompt accounting and payment services besides financial/expertise services to factory management and OFB Authorities.

Government of India has introduced a New Pension Scheme replacing the defined benefit pension scheme. The New Pension Scheme comes into operation w.e.f from 01.01.2004 and applicabel to all new entrants of Central Government Service on or after 01.01.2004. The New Pension Scheme is working on defined contribution basis and will have two tiers-Tier-I and Tier-II. Tier-I is mandatory for all Govt. Servants/employees of autonomous institutes. In Tier-I government will have to make a contribution of 10% of the Basic pay, DP and DA which will be deducted from his salary bill every month. Government will make equal matching contribution and will deposit the same in non-withdrawal pension Tier-I account.

Scope:-

Under NPS system Branch Accounts Offices are termed as “Pay Accounts Offices (PAO)”, As a Central Govt. Office, the correct and timely deposit of contribution in Tier-I account by the respective Branch Accounts Offices (PAOs) is the prime concern. As a part of PFRDA (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) Regulation, 2015, every intermediary is required to follow the Grievance Redressal policy. Accordingly, the below stated Grievance Redressal policy (GRP) is made for prompt redressal of the grievances arising out of various services offered by the Branch Accounts Offices in the capacity of intermediary. The scope of this GRP is restricted to redressal of grievances raised against intermediary.

The term “Grievances”is defined as “Grievances of complaint”includes any communication that expresses dissatisfaction, in respect of the conduct or any act of omission or commission or deficiency of service on the part of Branch Accsilnts offices, an intermediary and in the nature of seeking a remedial action but do not incrude following:

(i) Complaints that are incomplete or not specific in nature;

(ii) communications in the nature of offering suggestions:

(iii) Communications seeking guidance or explanation.

(iv) complaints which are beyond the powers and functions of the PAOs/Pr.AO or beyond the provisions of the PFRDA Act and the rules regulations framed there under; and

(v) complaints that are subjudice (cases which are under consideration by court of law or quasi-judicial body) except matters within the exclusive domain of the PFRDA under the provisions of the Act.

Objectives:

The purpose of this policy is to set forth the policies and procedures to be followed in receiving, handling and responding to any grievance against the concerned PAOs in respect of the services offered by them. The following are broad objectives for handling the customer grievances.

1. To Provide fair and equal treatment to all employees of respective Factory/Branch Offices without bias at all times.

2. To ensure that all issues raised by employees are dealt with courtesy and resolved in stipulated timelines.

3. To develop an organizational framework to promptly address and resolve employees Grievances fairly and equitably.

4. To Provide enhanced level of satisfaction.

5. To provide easy accessibility to the employees of respective Factory/Branch offices for an immediate Grievance redressal.

6.To put in place a monitoring mechanism to oversee the functioning of the Grievance Handling Policy.

How to raise the grievance:- (Tier-I)

The subscribers can raise grievances through the following mode:

By raising a grievance in writing – in the specified format/letters/representation addressed to the Grievance Redressal Officer,PAO/Chief Grievance Redressal Officer, pr.AO.

Resolution mechanism for grievances:-

The grievance will be resolved by concerned PAO and then appropriate reply will be sent to the complainant by the PAO/Pr.AO.

Turn Around time (TAT)

Every grievance has to be disposed – Off by the PAO within a period of thirty days of its receipt at both the redressal tiers.

Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) and chief Grievance redressal Officer (CGRO):-

The details of respective Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) at PAO level are:

Sl.No          Name and address

1            Shri Nabarun Dhar, IDAS

           Joint Controller of Accounts (Fys)

     Grienvance Redressal Officer (GRO), NPS

     O/O the PCA(Fys), AYUDH BHAVAN,

    10-A S.K.Bose Road, Kolkara – 700 001.

      Phone No. (033) 22484341 Fax No. (033) 22480991.

       Email address: nabarundhar@gmail.com

2.          Shri Abhiram Mandal, IDAS

        Deputy controller of Accounts (Fys)

        Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO), NPA

         O/O the PCA (Fys), AYUDH BHAVAN,

        10-A S.K.Bose Road, Kolkata – 700 001.

        Phone No. (033) 22484341 Fax No. (033) 22480991.

3.                Shri Vidhu Aggarwal, IDAS

            Assistant Controller of Accounts (Fys)

        Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO), NPS

         O/O the PCA(Fys), AYUDH BHAVAN,

        10-A S.K.Bose Road, Kolkata – 700 001.

     Phone No. (033) 22484341 Fax No. (033) 22480991

           Email address: vidhugupt @gmail.com

4.              Shri Rajesh Kumar, Sr A.O.

       Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO), NPS

                  O/O the AO OF NALANDA,

       Ordance Factory Nalanda(P), Rajgir 803121

       Phone NO. (06112) 257105 Fax No. (06112) 257102.

                  Email address: ao-ofn-bih@nic.in

If the complainant is not satisfied with the refressal of his grievances or if it has not been resolved by Grievance Redressal Officer, concerned PAO by the end of thirty days of the filing of the complaint, he/she may escalate the grievance to the chief Grievance Redressal Officer (CGRO).

The present Chief Grievance Redressal Officer (CGRO) details are:-

Shri M.C.Chakrabortty, IDAS

Controller of Accounts (Fys),

Chief Grievance Redressal Officer (CGRO), NPS

O/O the PCA(Fys), AYUDH BHAVAN,

10-A S.K.Bose Road, Kolkata – 700 001.

Phone No. (033) 22484341 Fax No. (033) 22480991

Email address: moloycc.cgda@nic.in

The record of grievances will be maintained by the concerned Redressal Officer.

Sd/-

(Nabarun dhar)

Joint Controller of Accounts (Fys)

Source:www.pcafys.nic.in                                         

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Lok Sabha Passes Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority(PFRDA) Bill, 2011 with official amendments;

   Lok Sabha Passes Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill, 2011 with official amendments; Subscribers Seeking Minimum Assured Returns Allowed to OPT for Investing their Funds in such Scheme Providing Minimum Assured Returns

   The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill (PFRDA), 2011 was passed by the Lok Sabha today with official amendments. It was earlier introduced in Lok Sabha on the 24th March, 2011 to provide for a statutory regulatory body the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) under the provisions of the Bill. The legislation seeks to empower PFRDA to regulate the New Pension System (NPS).

   The PFRDA Bill, 2011 was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance on the 29th March, 2011 for examination and report thereon. The Standing Committee on Finance gave its Report on 30th August, 2011. Some of the key amendments incorporated in the Bill based on the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance are as follows:

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Default ASP and Annuity Scheme for subscribers exiting from NPS and Seeking withdrawal of Accumulated Pension Wealth.

Pension Fund Regulatory and
      Development Authority
        
CIRCULAR

PFRDA/2013/5/PDEX/4

                                 14th February 2013

To,
All POP’s/Aggregators/CRA/ dealing offices of Central & State Governments,

Subject: Default ASP and Annuity Scheme for subscribers exiting  from NPS and Seeking withdrawal of Accumulated Pension Wealth

   PFRDA has empanelled seven Annuity Service Providers (ASP’s) for providing annuity services to NPS subscribers. As per current National Pension System (NPS) exit norms,the subscriber is mandatorily required to select one of the empanelled ASP’s along with an Annuity scheme from those offered by the chosen ASP at the time of exiting from NPS and seeking withdrawal of accumulated pension wealth (for reasons other than death of the subscriber).

   Based on the feedback received from stakeholders seeking provision of a default option to be exercised by the subscriber at the time of selection of the ASP and choosing of an annuity scheme, PFRDA has examined the matter and decided to assist the subscriber by providing a default option.

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Revision in documentary requirements in case of exits arising from Death of the subscriber under NPS-Swavalamban.

CIRCULAR

PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

PFRDA/2013/3/PDEX/3 

                                            Date: 06/02/2013

To,
Dear Sir/Madam,

Subject:   Revision in documentary requirements in case of exits arising from Death of the subscriber under NPS-Swavalamban.

   Attention of all stakeholders is invited to the requirement of Death Certificate in original for claiming the benefits of the accumulated pension wealth in the account of a deceased subscriber by the nominee/legal heirs under National Pension System (NPS).

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Implementation of NPS.

   The New Pension System (NPS) has been implemented for various sectors like Central Government, State Government, Private Sector and NPS-Life.  The status of NPS in these sectors as on 10th November, 2012 is as under:-

Sector	No. of Subscribers (Figures in lakhs)	Assets under Management (Rs. In crores)
Central Government	10.62	14,846
State Government	14.67	7,445
Private Sector	1.64	835
NPS-Life	13.05	344
Total	39.98	23,470

   The number of subscribers is increasing every year in all the sectors.

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NPS performed better that GPF in the last year.

   The three NPS managers handling the pension funds of Central and state government employees have delivered average returns of 9.33% in the past one year, outperforming the state-run government provident fund (GPF), employees provident fund (EPF) and the public provident fund (PPF). The three-year annualised returns are also quite decent at 8.47%, though not as spectacular as in the past one year.

   More than 16 lakh central and state government employees have almost Rs 8,500 crore invested in the NPS. This money is managed by three pension fund managers - SBI Pension Funds, LIC Pension Fund and UTI Retirement Solutions. Each of the three funds manages roughly one-third of the NPS corpus.

   Though three years is a very short time to judge long-term instruments such as pension funds, the impressive performance is likely to silence the criticism that NPS is not allocating enough to growth assets. Central and state government NPS funds can invest a maximum of 15% in equities. Even in NPS for the general public, where investors can choose their own asset allocation, a maximum of 50% can be put in equities.

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PFRDA Issues Revised Set of Guidelines for Registration of Pension Fund Managers to Manage National Pension System for the Non-Government and Private Sector.

   The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) today issued a revised set of guidelines for registration of Pension Fund Managers (PFMs) to manage the National Pension System (NPS) for the non-government and private sector.

   The revised guidelines, available on PFRDA’s website www.pfrda.org.in, have done away with the earlier bidding process, wherein a pre-determined number of slots were bid for by the PFMs, and the fees charged by them for managing the pension funds had to be uniform for all players. The earlier process has now been replaced by a system which lays down the eligibility criteria for registration as PFMs, and all interested players desiring to enter the pension industry, can register as PFMs subject to their fulfilling the eligibility criteria. There is no limitation on the number of PFMs. Further, the PFMs are now allowed to prescribe their own fee charges, subject to an overall ceiling to be laid down by PFRDA. It is expected that this would provide for an economically viable business model for the PFMs attracting a fresh set of entrants into the pension industry, and the resultant competition would ensure market driven fee structures, which would work to the advantage of the pension subscribers.

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'Govt's NPS funding incomplete'

   The government may not have fully funded its pension liabilities in respect of employees who are covered under the National Pension System (NPS). This revelation has been made by a panel headed by former Sebi chief G N Bajpai which has submitted a report on pensions for the informal sector to the pension's regulator.

   The report, which was released last week, said that the present number of accounts (12 lakh) appear to be on the lower side considering that it has been over six years since the NPS was made mandatory for government employees. However, there is no source that provides information on the exact number of government employees who have joined after January 2004.

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Public Comments and Stakeholders’ Views Invited on the Report Submitted by Committee to Review Implementation of Informal Sector Pension

   A Committee to Review Implementation of Informal Sector Pension was constituted under the Chairmanship of Shri G N Bajpai former Chairman, SEBI, LIC and also member of PFRDA NPS Trust. The Committee has submitted its report on 1st July, 2011. The report is accessible on http://pfrda.org.in/indexmain.asp?linkid=180. Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority( PFRDA) is inviting public comments and stakeholder’s views, before finalizing policy initiatives that require action as per recommendations of the Committee.

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PFRDA: NPS equity investment cap to remain at 50%

   The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) today said it favoured retaining the cap on investment in equities by the New Pension Scheme at 50 per cent, irrespective of the recommendations of the Bajpai committee.

   The NPS comprises three investment categories —- G (ultra safe), C (safe) and E (medium). Of these, the E category investments are invested in equity-related products, the cap for which is 50 per cent.

   “We think at the current stage of the pension market in the country, investing more than 50 per cent in equities is not going to be fair to investors, in terms of the risk. Therefore, we would retain the cap at 50 per cent,” PFRDA Chairman Yogesh Agarwal told reporters on the sidelines of the 26th Skoch Summit.

   Headed by former Securities and Exchange Board of India chairman G N Bajpai, the Bajpai committee is working on NPS’ fee structure and would suggest changes to the scheme. The report is expected by the third week of this month, Agarwal said.

   NPS was initially launched for central government employees, but later extended to all citizens from May 1, 2009. Currently, seven pension fund managers account for assets of about Rs 9,000 crore. Of this, about Rs 100 crore is contributed by pension schemes for people other than government employees. These fund managers include LIC Pension Fund Ltd, SBI Pension Funds Ltd, UTI Retirement Solutions, IDFC Pension Fund Management, ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management, Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund and Reliance Capital Pension Fund.

Courtesy; business-standard.com

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CONFEDERATION OF CENTRAL GOVT. EMPLOYEES & WORKERS 2 HOUR DEMONSTRATION AGANST PFRDA BILL

Conf/ 7 /2011 Dated: 24th March, 2011

PFRDA BILL INTRODUCED IN THE PARLIAMENT:

HOLD DEMONSTRATION BETWEEN 12 AND 2 PM ON

FRIDAY 25TH MARCH 2011 IN FRONT OF ALL OFFICES

TO REGISTER OUR STRONG PROTEST AGAINST

THE ATTROCIOUS ATTEMPT OF THE UPA GOVERNMENT

TO REINTRODUCE THE LAPSED BILL

Dear Comrade,

   The UPA II Government has today introduced the PFRDA Bill once again in the Parliament. The bill that was introduced earlier by the then Finance Minister, Shri P. Chidambaram, could not muster sufficient support to get enacted as the Left parties Parties opposed it. Even though the enactment could not be made, the Government through executive fiat had converted the statutory defined benefit Pension scheme which is in existence for decades in the case of Government employees into a contributory pension scheme.

   The All India State Government Employees Federation and the Confederation of Central Government employees had jointly taken the decision earlier to oppose the introduction of the Bill by organizing a two hour walk out programme. Accordingly we call upon all our Affiliates and State Units to immediately organize demonstration in front of all offices between 12 and 2 PM and mobilize the members for sustained serious programmes of action in the days to come. Intensive campaign programmes must be undertaken to bring home the pernicious impact the bill will bring about on the existing pensionary benefits of the Government employees. Besides, The funds accumulated from the contributions made by the employees as stipulated in the New Contributory pension scheme would be diverted to stock market for investment. Since the Government is to contribute equal amount as is being made by the employees, the new contributory pension scheme would be an unbearable drag on the exchequer and the sole beneficiary would be the big corporate houses. We must therefore embark upon a sustained struggle against the new scheme including a day's strike action as and when the bill is taken up for enactment by the Parliament.

.
With greetings,

Yours fraternally,

Sd/-

K.K.N.Kutty;

Secretary General

Source;www.nfpe.blogspot.com

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Swavalamban Benefit for NPS Account Holders

Eligible Account Holders are Required to Submit Declaration form to the PoPs

Under the Swavalamban guidelines approved by the Govt. of India, all NPS accounts opened in 2009-10 will be entitled to the benefit of Government co-contribution of Rs. 1,000 subject to fulfilling the prescribed eligibility criteria. A list of eligible account holders is available on the Website of Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) as well as the concerned PoPs.

The PFRDA has requested the concerned NPS account holders to submit the requisite declaration form to the PoPs at the earliest to avail of the Swavalamban benefit. A copy of the Swavalamban declaration form can be downloaded from the website of the PFRDA / PoPs / NSDL.

Source;PIB
(Release ID :68752)

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Swavalamban Yojana Scheme (NPS)

The Government of India has approved the Operational Guidelines for the Swavalamban Scheme which was announced in the Finance Minister ’ s Budget speech of 2010-11. The Scheme is applicable to all citizens in the unorganised sector who join the New Pension Scheme (NPS) subject to their meeting the eligibility criteria. Under this Scheme, Central Government will contribute Rs. 1000 per year to each NPS account opened in the year 2010-11 and for the next 3 years, i.e., 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14. To be eligible, a person will have to make a minimum contribution of Rs. 1000 and maximum contribution of Rs. 12000 per annum, for both Tier-I and Tier-II accounts taken together.

2. In recognition of their faith in the NPS, all NPS accounts opened in the year 2009-10 will also be entitled to the benefit of Swavalamban, subject to fulfillment of the eligibility criteria. A person will have the option to join the NPS as an individual as per the existing scheme or through the CRA Lite approved by PFRDA. The exit from the Swavalamban Scheme would be on the same terms and conditions on which exit from Tier-I account of NPS is permitted and will be subject to the condition that the minimum pension out of the accumulated pension wealth would be Rs. 1000 per month, in accordance with the provisions of Operational Guidelines.

3. The Scheme will be funded by grants from the Government of India.

4. These Guidelines have also been placed on the website of PFRDA www.pfrda.org.in.

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NPS--Two-thirds of States yet to remit pension scheme contributions--PFRDA

Finance Ministry calls meet on November 1 to address issue.

Arun S.

New Delhi, Oct. 27

Two-thirds of the State Governments and a couple of Union Territories have not remitted the pension contributions of their new employees to Bank of India, which is the trustee bank for the accumulated monies under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), sources in the Finance Ministry and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority told Business Line.

This is despite all these Governments signing up for the NPS as early as 2003. The NPS covers all Government employees. Their pension entitlement is based on their own ‘defined contributions' with a matching amount from the Government concerned.

The employees will, therefore, not be able to get pension benefits that their fund would have entitled them to earn, had the contributions been invested in the instruments which they had asked for.

Lackadaisical approach

Due to the lackadaisical approach of these Governments, the trustee bank is unable to accumulate the contributions and transfer these to Pension Fund Managers such as SBI, UTI and LIC, who, in turn, would invest the money in equity or debt instruments.

The investment portfolio depends on the choice exercised by the States/UTs. (This could include investment pattern notified by the Finance Ministry and the subscriber's risk appetite.)

However, the employees will certainly have a claim to demand returns on the contributions to their pension account retrospectively (from the date of signing up) till their date of retirement/superannuation and that too, at the average rate (currently 12-14 per cent) earned by NPS funds, the sources claimed.

Liability strain

They added that the liability on this account would have to be borne by the State Governments themselves.

“This increasing liability can put a strain on the finances of these Governments. In fact, the difficulty in paying up a huge amount is one of the reasons why these Governments are delaying the completion of formalities,” an official said.

In other words, on the date when an employee demands the returns on his/her pension amount as per the NPS rate of return on a compounded basis, the State Government concerned will have to either pay up or face litigation, the sources pointed out.

A worried Finance Ministry has taken serious note of the failure of these states/UTs and its fiscal implications. The Ministry has called a meeting with the States on November 1 to address the issue, the sources said.

However, five States — Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana (interestingly, all but Haryana, being run by non-Congress Governments) — have completed all the formalities after joining the NPS including uploading of the contributions.

Among the big States that have not completed the formalities, including making remittances, are Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. They have not signed the contract with the NPS Trust and the Central Recordkeeping Agency. They have neither set up a Nodal Office nor registered its subscribers. They have also not uploaded and remitted the contributions.

Andhra Pradesh has registered 58,195 subscribers, but has uploaded the contributions and made remittances of just six of them. Karnataka has registered 73,898 subscribers, and has completed most of the formalities, but it has uploaded and remitted their contributions only from January 19.

But Karnataka had joined the NPS from as early as April 1, 2006 and has not uploaded the contributions from that date till January 19, 2010.

The total registered NPS subscribers from the 26 States and UTs is 4,03,819. States such as Kerala, West Bengal, Tripura and Sikkim are yet to join NPS.

arun.s@thehindu.co.in

Source:the hindu businessline

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