The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has issued regulations for Operationalisation of the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). The notification dates back to 19th March and follows the UPS notification dated 24th January, 2025. These regulations will come into effect from 1st April, 2025. The Ministry of Finance in its release, stated, “The PFRDA vide gazette notification dated 19th March, 2025 has issued PFRDA (Operationalisation of the Unified Pension Scheme under NPS) Regulations, 2025
Through the notification, PFRDA stated that these Regulations enable enrolment of three categories of central government employees.
The three categories are:
1. An existing central government employee in service as on 1st April 2025, who is covered under NPS.
2. New recruit in the central government services, who joins service on or after the 1st day of April 2025.
3. A central government employee who was covered under NPS and who has superannuated or voluntarily retired or has retired under Fundamental Rules 56(j) on or before 31st March 2025 and is eligible for UPS or the legally wedded spouse in case of a subscriber who has superannuated or retired and has demised prior to exercising the option for UPS.
Check For Direct Link
Notably, the enrolment and claim forms for all these categories of central government employees will be available online. From 1st April, 2025, employees can access these forms on website of Protean CRA – https://npscra.nsdl.co.in
Moreover, the employees will also have the option to submit the forms physically.
Central Government employees under the National Pension System (NPS) will soon benefit from the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS). The scheme has been introduced by the Central government so that the employees receive an assured payout after their retirement. In the notification regarding UPS by the Department of Financial Services, it stated, “The rate of full assured payout will be 50% of 12 monthly average basic pay, immediately prior to superannuation. Full assured payout is payable after a minimum 25 years of qualifying service.”
Unified Pension Scheme: Date
The Unified Pension Scheme will be operational from 1st April, 2025, according to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) statement. It is the regulatory body for supervision and regulation of pensions in India.