Atal Pension Yojana

Key Features of Atal Pension Yojana (APY):

Target Audience: APY is specifically designed for individuals working in the unorganized sector, such as laborers, maids, gardeners, delivery boys, and others who are not part of any formal pension scheme.

Age Limit: The minimum age to join APY is 18 years, and the maximum age is 40 years. Subscribers must contribute to the scheme for at least 20 years before they can start receiving the pension.

Contributions and Pension Amount: The contribution amount and the pension amount depend on the age of the subscriber when they join the scheme and the desired monthly pension after retirement. Subscribers can choose a monthly pension plan of ₹1,000, ₹2,000, ₹3,000, ₹4,000, or ₹5,000, depending on their contribution capacity.

Contributions Period: Subscribers need to contribute to the scheme until they reach the age of 60 years. The contributions stop once the subscriber attains the age of 60, and the pension payments begin.

Government Co-contribution: The government of India co-contributes 50% of the subscriber’s contribution or ₹1,000 per annum, whichever is lower, for a period of 5 years for subscribers who joined the scheme between June 1, 2015, and December 31, 2015, and are not covered by any statutory social security scheme and are not income taxpayers.

Pension to Spouse: In the event of the subscriber’s demise, the spouse can continue to receive the pension. If both the subscriber and the spouse pass away, the nominee receives the pension corpus.

Enrollment Process: Individuals can enroll in APY through authorized banks and financial institutions. They need to have a savings bank account and provide their Aadhaar number and mobile number during the enrollment process.

APY is an important social security initiative aimed at providing financial stability to the unorganized sector workforce during their old age. It ensures that people in the unorganized sector can avail of a regular pension income after their retirement, thereby improving their standard of living and financial security in their later years.