NPS adds 1.03 lakh individual subscribers from private sector in Q1

The National Pension System (NPS) has added 1.03 lakh individual subscribers from the private sector during the April-June 2020 period. As many as 206 corporates were enrolled during the first quarter, resulting in a total of 10.13 lakh corporate subscribers in the age group of 18 to 65 years.

Among the 1,02,975 individual subscribers registered, 43,000 have routed their subscription through their employer/corporate, while the rest have voluntarily enrolled in the scheme, an official release said.

Supratim Bandyopadhyay, Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), said: “The NPS has been a success amongst the corporate employees. While financial planning often took a backseat in an individual’s life, this pandemic has brought it to the forefront, creating awareness about financial security at such testing times. During this pandemic, a growing realisation for both corporates and individuals has emerged that retirement planning is not a mere saving or tax benefit choice.

“The role played by private corporates to take charge of educating the employees about the benefits of NPS is highly appreciable, resulting in an interesting quarter for the pension sector regulator. We have also adopted various proactive measures for ensuring uninterrupted services to the subscribers in this period of unexpected crisis.”

After the onset of Covid-19, employers have adopted or are willing to adopt deeper measures to ensure adequate support to employees in terms of their financial well-being. As per a recent survey of Willis Towers Watson, over 20 per cent of employers in the private sector aim to educate employees on retirement adequacy and available savings options, while some companies are focusing on employees approaching retirement by providing independent, unbiased financial advice.