The National Pension System (NPS) is a government-backed savings and pension scheme for resident and non-resident Indians. However, for grievance redressal, the Pension Fund and Regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) has established a mechanism to register and resolve subscribers’ complaints within a timeframe, with an option to escalate the matter if resolution is delayed.

Here is the process to register or escalate a complaint if it is not solved within 30 days of filing it.

Lodge A Complaint With Your Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA):

Online: A subscriber can complain with the NPS nodal office, CRA, Point of presence (POP), trustee bank, annuity service provider (ASP), etc., which are the subscriber’s first point of contact. There are three CRAs: Protean, CAMS, and Kfintech, and subscribers must register a complaint on their respective CRA’s grievance portal. They can do it with or without a PRAN ID.

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Interactive Voice Response System (IVR) or Call Centre: Another way to file a complaint is to call the CRA. You could do this through the IVR or by talking to a customer care executive.

Physical Forms: A subscriber can also lodge an offline complaint by submitting a physical copy to the service provider’s POP in a prescribed format. In physical submission, the subscriber must mention the PRAN number in the form to take action on it.

If a subscriber is unsatisfied with the resolution, they can raise it with the Grievance Redressal Officer (GRO) and Chief Grievance Redressal Officer (CGRO).

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Turnaround Time For Resolution:

• An acknowledgement is sent within two working days of receiving the first complaint.
• The complaint has to be resolved within five working days from the date of receipt, which can be extended to a maximum of 30 days from the date of receipt.

Lodge A Complaint With NPS-Trust:

In response to the stakeholders’ comments in January 2024 on the draft proposal of the Redressal of Subscriber Grievance Regulations, 2015, PFRDA said that “the National Pension System Trust shall actively coordinate for the resolution of all the grievances lodged with the intermediaries or entities directly or in the Central Grievance Management System (CGMS), as well as received directly at their end.”

If the grievance remains unresolved for 30 days, they can escalate it to the NPS trust. The Trust then follows up with the entity against which the complaint was made and replies to the subscriber within 30 days of receipt of the grievance.

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Lodge Complaint With Ombudsman:

If the grievance remains unresolved or not satisfactorily resolved, it can be escalated to the Ombudsman against the entity. This is the final escalation, and the matter cannot be further escalated.