BHUBANESWAR: Executive director of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) AG Das on Friday emphasised the growing concerns of an ageing society and increasing life expectancy underscoring the need for adequate pension coverage.
Speaking at an event on National Pension System (NPS) for corporates, he urged corporate employees to think of NPS not only for tax benefits, but also as a product which can yield market related returns and secure their regular income in old age. NPS was implemented for all government employees (except armed forces) entering the Central government workforce on or after January 1, 2004. Most of the states/UTs have also adopted the NPS for their new employees. Since May 1, 2009, NPS has been available to every citizen on a voluntary basis including corporates. Atal Pension Yojana (APY) was launched on June 1, 2015, providing a significant boost to social security schemes.
AGM of PFRDA Ashish Dongare deliberated on various strategies that banks may implement to archive the pension saturation and review the performances in APY enrolment in the state. The coverage in the state is slightly below the national average. The number of subscribers of NPS and APY in the country has crossed 6.85 crore, with a total asset under management of Rs 10,40,831.51 crore. As many as 14,247 corporates have adopted NPS, registering 18.62 lakh employees under the system.
So far, 1,07,772 people and 62 corporates have opted for NPS in Odisha. Financial Intermediaries Association of India (FIAI) head of retirement - India and managing partner Ritobrata Sarkar and chief general manager Sumit Kumar and Nalco general manager Satyabatra Das discussed retirement benefits planning, NPS as a retirement benefit scheme and NPS onboarding and implementation for corporates.