PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

MASTER CIRCULAR

PFRDA/MASTERCULAR/2023/05/CRA-03

29 December 2023

To, i. Central Recordkeeping Agency (‘CRA’) ii. Government Nodal Offices (i.e. CG, SGs, CABs & SABs) iii. National Pension System Trust (‘NPS Trust’)

Madam / Sir,

eNPS for Government Sector – A new on-boarding feature to ease the process of subscriber registration

1. This Master Circular is issued in exercise of the powers conferred under Section 14(1) read with Section 14(2)(e) of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013.

2. This Master Circular rescinds the existing guidelines/instructions on the subject of “eNPS for Government Sector – A new on-boarding feature to ease the process of subscriber registration” and consolidates at one place. The list of underlying circulars rescinded in this Master Circular is furnished in the Appendix.

This Master Circular is issued with the approval of the competent authority.

Yours faithfully,

-sd- (Ashish Kumar) Chief General Manager

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INDEX

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PART I – Introduction

1. To streamline and accelerate the PRAN generation process, CRAs have introduced the digital platform eNPS specifically designed for the Government Sector. eNPS for Government facilitates the effortless opening of NPS accounts for government employees, empowering them to do so in a paperless, user-friendly manner. In an effort to enhance the onboarding experience under eNPS for Government Sector, the Authority hereby provides a master circular on eNPS for Government Sector.

PART II – General Guidelines

2. The compliance obligation of the intermediary/entity shall not be confined merely to the Master Circular but, also the applicable laws.

3. This Master Circular shall take effect from the date of its issuance but shall be without prejudice to their (earlier issued circulars) operation and effect, for the period when they were in force, until them being subsumed under the Master Circular. Based on the above caveat, Part IV containing the list of circulars consolidated in the Master Circular shall stand rescinded with the issuance of this Master Circular, such that they are subsumed in the Master Circular and for all purpose and intent, remain operative, with no break of continuity.

4. Notwithstanding such rescission of any circular, upon their merger in the Master Circular, or otherwise, anything done or any action taken or purported to have been done or taken, or to be taken hereafter, under the circulars now rescinded (for the period of their operation) shall be construed to have been validly taken as if the said circulars are in full force and effect and shall remain unaffected by their rescission, in any manner.

5. The previous operation of the rescinded circulars or anything duly done or suffered thereunder, any right, privilege, obligation or liability acquired, accrued or incurred, any penalty, any order passed, any violation committed, any investigation, legal proceedings pending in terms of the circular (now rescinded), shall be treated as if the circulars are in full force and effect, and shall remain unaffected by their rescission, in any manner.

PART III – Specific Guidelines/Instructions

6. The eNPS Govt provides the opportunity for the employees of Government Sector and empowers them to open NPS account with ease and lot of convenience in a paperless mode. This facility also enables nodal offices to bring operational finesse due to paperless process and optimize their efficiency. The proposed digital platform shall also enable Inter Sector Shifting (ISS) of existing Subscribers of other sectors to seamlessly transfer their NPS account into Government Sector. The employees of Government Sector (CG, SGs, CABs & SABs) would be provided with the option to digitally register themselves under the respective Government Sector by the following modes:

(i). Through Aadhaar Online/Offline e-KYC – Under this option, the Subscriber is required to use Aadhaar based KYC.

(ii). Through Permanent Account Number (PAN) – Under this option, the Subscriber is required to provide valid PAN and upload the relevant KYC documents.

7. To encourage widespread adoption of eNPS for Government Sector, it is advised that CRAs shall conduct extensive awareness sessions and training to familiarize nodal offices and government employees with the process, ensuring a large-scale utilization and broader acceptance of eNPS for Government Sector.

8. Government Nodal Offices are informed to embrace eNPS for Government Sector for the onboarding process of their new employees. This move aligns with the larger objective of the Government of India's Digital India program, aiming to revolutionize India into a digitally empowered society, reducing the necessity for physical submission of documents and certificates by its citizens. The adoption of eNPS Government Sector offers a multitude of advantages as under:

(i). Ease of on-boarding of employees and online verification/authorization of employee’s NPS related information by Government Nodal Offices.

(ii). Easing the work of Government Nodal Offices from manual process of account opening and freeing them from handling papers and associated challenges of dispatching the physical forms to CRA/ CRA-FC.

(iii). Paperless process of enrollment with eSign/OTP.

(iv). Optimizing the cost of account opening by end to end digitization.

(v). Expediting the account opening process compared to existing modes of account opening methods made available to the Government Sector.

(vi). Timely PRAN generation and timely deposit of NPS contribution which would lead to higher investment benefits.

(vii). Decline in rejection of registration forms due to less data-entry/digitization errors as employees fill the data in eNPS portal themselves while onboarding.

(viii). Elimination of logistical cost associated with submission of physical forms by Subscribers to Government Nodal Offices, by Nodal Officers to CRA-FC and re-submission of forms.

9. CRAs shall make available the guidelines / SOPs on eNPS for Government Sector on their website for the stakeholders.

PART IV - List of circulars consolidated in the Master Circular