Pension regulator PFRDA is hopeful of bringing on board 60-70-lakh new subscribers to the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) this fiscal its Chairman Hemant Contractor said.
Last fiscal, 50-lakh new subscribers were added to APY, which is a Government-guaranteed pension scheme. “This year, we hope to improve on the last year performance as regards new APY subscribers enrolment, ” Contractor said.
As on date, the total number of subscribers have crossed 1-crore mark.
Speaking at the PFRDA-organised National APY Conference here, Contractor said the PFRDA has requested the Government to effect certain changes to the scheme to enable more people to obtain benefits.
PFRDA has recommended that the current age limit for APY, that is 18-40, be revised to 18-50 years to enable more people join the scheme.
The second recommendation is on pension slabs. Currently, there are five pension slabs ranging from ₹1,000 per month to ₹5,000 per month. “There has been lot of feedback from the market asking for higher pension amount. Many people feel that pension of ₹5,000 after age of 60 may not be sufficient. We have place a proposal before the Government that it should be increased to ₹10,000,” Contractor said.
PFRDA has also sent a proposal for auto-enrolment for the consideration of the Government. Meanwhile, Contractor also urged banks to promote e-APY. He stressed the need to spread the message that every Indian needs to save for old age.
Currently, India has about 110 million people who are over the age of 60 years. Contractor said a study has forecast that by 2030 India will have 180 million people above 60 years age and by 2050 this number is expected to zoom to 300 million.