The number of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers has crossed the 7 million mark, the Pension Fund regulatory Development Authority (PFRDA) said in an X post on Tuesday. Its subscriber base had crossed the 6 crore mark last December. In FY2021-22, APY enrollments rose by 25 per cent, while in FY2022-23, it saw a 20 per cent year-on-year subscriber growth.

Know The APY Features

The government announced the APY scheme in the FY2015-16 budget to provide financial security to workers from the unorganised sector. the APY scheme is administered by PFRDA.

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Any Indian citizens aged 18- 40 can open an APY account via banks or designated post offices. Those who joined the scheme between FY2015-16 and FY2019-20, also receive contributions from the government in their APY accounts, provided they are not taxpayers or covered by any government social security scheme.

APY pensions are provided in five slabs: Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000, or Rs 5,000 per month, depending on the subscriber’s contributions and age. The subscribers can contribute to their APY accounts monthly, quarterly, or half-yearly.

Benefits Of An APY Subscriber

Guaranteed Regular Pension: APY provides a fixed pension for a lifetime. While there are other alternatives for long-term guaranteed returns, such as a provident fund, only a few of them provide pensions.

Death Benefit: The scheme also provides a death benefit. The spouse is the default nominee who receives the pension upon the subscriber's death. If the subscriber is unmarried, they can nominate someone. After marriage, the spouse immediately becomes the nominee.

After the subscriber's death, the spouse can either continue receiving the pension or exit the scheme and collect the fund in one single payment. If both the subscriber and the spouse die, the next nominee will get a predetermined sum for the specific slab, according to PFRDA.

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Tax Benefit: Contributions to the scheme are eligible for tax deductions under sections 80CCD (1B) and 80C. However, the tax benefits are only available to APY members who joined before October 1, 2022, as the programme was terminated after that. The scheme's admission requirements state that a subscriber can be anyone who is not an income taxpayer.