PFRDA circular PFRDA/2021/31/SUP-POP/5 · 23 Dec 2023
Official title
Guidelines for Operational Activities-to be followed by Point of Presence (POPs-APY)
Summary
Check the official recordThe Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has issued comprehensive operational guidelines for Points of Presence (PoP-APY) registered under the PFRDA (Points of Presence) Regulations, 2018. These guidelines mandate strict adherence to service standards, contribution management procedures, and grievance redressal mechanisms for the Atal Pension Yojana (APY). PoPs are required to maintain specific collection accounts, ensure timely debit cycles for contributions, and adhere to prescribed Turn Around Times (TATs) for registration, contribution processing, and exit requests. PoPs must appoint a Compliance Officer, submit annual compliance reports by April 30th, and compensate subscribers for operational lapses or delays. These guidelines become effective on April 1, 2022, and apply to all registered PoP-APY entities.
What you must do
Key dates
Who is affected
Exceptions
If you do not comply
CIRCULAR
CIR No.: PFRDA/2021/31/SUP-POP/5
23 December 2021
To, All Points of Presence (PoPs-APY)
Dear Sir / Madam,
Subject: Guidelines for Operational Activities - to be followed by Point of Presence (PoPs-APY)
In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 52 of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013 read with Chapter VII of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Points of Presence) Regulations, 2018 and amendments thereof, (hereinafter referred as “PoP Regulations”) following guidelines are being issued for compliance by all Points of Presence registered under Regulation 3 (1) (v) of PoP Regulations (hereinafter referred to as ‘PoP-APY’). Each PoP-APY shall adhere to the guidelines in all its operational activities with respect to APY. These guidelines shall be effective from 1st April 2022.
The detailed guidelines covering following points are enclosed along with this circular.
A. Service Standards B. Standard Operating Procedures. C. Contribution Management Procedure D. Reports and Disclosures. E. Redressal of grievances. F. Exit processing G. Other Functions
All entities are advised to update their system and streamline the processes to follow the operational guidelines issued by the Authority.
Yours faithfully,
-sd- (Sumeet Kaur Kapoor) Chief General Manager sumeet.kapoor@pfrda.org.in
GUIDELINES FOR THE POINTS OF PRESENCE REGISTERED UNDER REGULATION 3(1)(v) OF PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (POINT OF PRESENCE) REGULATIONS, 2018 AND AMENDMENTS THEREOF.
In exercise of the powers conferred under Section 52 of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013 read with Chapter VII of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Points of Presence) Regulations, 2018 and amendments thereof, (hereinafter referred as “PoP Regulations”) following guidelines are being issued for compliance by all Points of Presence registered under Regulation 3 (1) (v) of PoP Regulations (hereinafter referred to as ‘PoP-APY’). Each PoP-APY shall adhere to the following guidelines stricto senso in all its operational activities with respect to APY. The guidelines may be modified by PFRDA from time to time depending upon the service requirements. These guidelines shall be effective from 1st April 2022.
A. Service Standards
[1] PoP-APY shall follow the ‘Service Standards’ as prescribed under Schedule I of these guidelines for providing services related to registration of subscribers, undertaking Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process, debiting contributions from savings bank accounts of subscribers and receiving subsequent requests from subscribers and transmission of the same to the designated intermediaries, wherever applicable.
[2] PoP-APY shall deduct the contributions from the Savings Bank accounts of subscribers enrolled under Atal Pension Yojana (hereinafter referred to as ‘APY’) in accordance with Schedule I.
[3] PoP-APY shall provide subsequent services such as upgradation and down-gradation of pension amount, shifting of PoP-APY, change in personal details of subscribers, processing of death claims, voluntary exit requests or any other requests introduced by the Authority, in accordance with Schedule I.
[4] PoP-APY shall be liable to compensate the affected subscribers in the event of any delay or violation on part of the PoP-APY in performing the Service Standards, as prescribed under Schedule I on receipt of claim from the subscribers. Besides the delay in TATs as specified in Schedule I, in case of any loss suffered by a subscriber due to any other operational lapse by PoP-APY like wrong inputting of DOB and pension amount etc, PoP-APY shall unconditionally make good the loss, on claim filed by the subscriber.
[5] PoP-APY shall resolve the grievances of the subscribers in accordance with Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) Regulations, 2015 and any amendments thereof.
[6] In accordance with PFRDA (PoP) Regulations, 2018 and amendments thereof, PoP-APY may engage the services of other service providers or banking correspondents, for facilitating the distribution of pension schemes as facilitators and shall ensure the following while associating with any facilitators:
(i). The terms and conditions of operations between PoP-APY and facilitator(s) shall be mutually agreed upon and shall be in accordance with Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Points of Presence) Regulations, 2018 and subsequent amendments thereof.
(ii). PoP-APY shall ensure flow of information from facilitators to PoP-APY in such a way that all Turn Around Times (TATs) as prescribed under service level standards in Schedule I are adhered to, without any delay or deviation.
(iii). PoP-APY shall ensure that the facilitators contact or communicate only with it on all matters and any direct communications with PFRDA shall not be entertained.
(iv). PoP-APY shall compile and submit the prescribed MIS reports to PFRDA on behalf of all its associated facilitators. Facilitators shall not directly submit any MIS report / information to PFRDA.
[7] PoP-APY shall have the necessary checks and balances in its system in order to ensure non-opening of multiple APY accounts for the same subscriber.
[8] PoP-APY shall display Atal Pension Yojana (APY) – Subscriber Information Brochure on its website and/or at branches, as the case may be.
[9] PoP-APY shall make available all APY related forms, as prescribed by PFRDA from time to time, on its website and/or at branches, as the case may be.
[10] PoP-APY shall adhere to the regulations, circulars, guidelines, directions, advisories or any other instructions issued by PFRDA from time to time. Further, PoP-APY shall adhere to any notification issued by Government of India on APY, including GOI notification dated 16th October 2015, and notification dated 11th May 2017, and same shall be disseminated by PFRDA.
B. Standard Operating Procedures
PoP-APY shall adhere to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) prescribed by the Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA) and / or PFRDA for operational activities with respect to APY.
C. Contribution Management Procedure
PoP-APY shall comply with the following procedures and parameters to ensure transparency, uniformity and risk minimization:
[1] APY contribution collection process
(i). PoP-APY shall ensure that credible collection infrastructure is available for its underlying subscribers.
(ii). PoP-APY shall open or have a collection account in the name of “Name of the PoP or its abbreviation –Collection Account – Name of pension scheme or its abbreviation – National Pension System Trust or its abbreviation” and such an account shall be a non-withdrawable account, only with an option to transfer the funds to NPS Trust account. In exceptional cases such as wrong entries, unidentified entries or amount not pertaining to subscriber contribution, it may be credited to any other account as may be specified by the Authority through guidelines/circulars. PoP-APY is required to record reasons for such transfers in writing. The authority to transfer the amount from collection account shall reside with the PoP, which shall be subject to audit by PFRDA or through its authorized representative.
(iii). PoP-APY may have a collection account with itself if it is a banking entity or with any bank, if it is a non-banking entity.
(iv). PoP-APY shall ensure issuance of acknowledgement slip / receipt with unique number (preferably electronic receipt) to the subscribers at the time of registration. PoP-APY shall ensure to intimate the subscribers about the subsequent contributions through SMS, e-mails or any other electronic mode.
(v). PoP-APY shall run the debit cycle as detailed in Schedule I of these guidelines in order to ensure deduction of subscriber’s contribution from the savings bank account of the subscriber under APY.
(vi). In case of subsequent contributions, PoP-APY shall run the debit cycle once for all APY subscribers within first ten calendar days of the month / quarter / half year, as the case may be. Post completion of first debit cycle, PoP-APY shall continue to raise demand on all working days till the collection of contribution from the saving bank account of all such subscribers. Periodic contribution as per the frequency opted by subscribers shall be debited on FIFO basis i.e. - due instalment shall be recovered first along with the fixed amount of overdue charges as applicable from time to time. Overdue charges shall become payable by the subscriber, if the contribution could not be collected from the saving Bank account of the subscriber in the first month, notwithstanding the fact that the chosen frequency of remittance is quarterly or half yearly.
