The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) announced providing access to all three central record-keeping agencies (CRAs) for Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers. In a May 3, 2024 circular, PFRDA said, it will allow the Point of Presence (PoP) registered with the authority to choose one or multiple CRAs to service their APY subscribers.

The move is expected to boost competition and level-playing field for CRAs. The government launched the APY scheme in 2015 to provide financial security to workers in the unorganised sector. PFRDA manages both the APY and the National Pension System (NPS) schemes.

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In NPS, subscribers can select any one of the three CRAs (Protean, CAMS, and KFin Tech). However, this option was not unavailable for APY subscribers earlier, as all APY services were offered by only by the protean eGov Technologies Ltd. This limitation has now been abolished, as PoPs and the subscribers will be able to access the other two CRAs for APY-related services.

What Is The Role Of CRAs?

CRAs maintain records, administer and offer customer services to subscribers. Their functions include registering subscribers, issuing permanent retirement account numbers (PRAN), offering online access to members, maintaining records, updating account information, providing an interface for intermediaries, monitoring PRAN contributions, sending transaction statements, offering call centre facility, resolving complaints, and processing withdrawal requests.

What Is The Change in APY?

Unlike NPS subscribers, who can access all three CRAs, APY members could access only one CRA, protean eGov Technologies Ltd, for any scheme-related services earlier. This limitation has been removed now, as they can now choose any of the three CRAs—Protean eGov Technologies Ltd, Computer Age Management Services Ltd (CAMS), and KFin Technologies Ltd for APY-related services.

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The fee structure as per the circular is as follows:

Source: PFRDA circular

• The chart shows that while the account opening fee is the same, the maintenance charges are different. There is no charge for non-financial transactions. So, subscribers can look at the charges and select the CRA that suits them best.
• The circular states that POPs, which are banks and post offices, can select all three CRAs. Likewise, APY subscribers can select the CRA that suits them best.
• PFRDA allows existing and new APY subscribers to port from one CRA to another available with the respective PoP.
• The PoPs with the CRA are responsible for timely data processing and sharing with the stakeholders and making the information regarding APY such as charges, etc., available on their respective websites to keep subscribers informed.

As per the NPS Trust website, there are some 5.55 crore APY subscribers as of March 31, 2024.