NPS Corporate scheme reclassified for government, non-govt entities; pension body also revises key charges for NPS subscribers

Mar 11, 2026

Synopsis
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has reclassified the National Pension System's Corporate scheme into 'Legal Entities (Other than Government)' and 'Government Entities'. This reclassification, effective January 1, 2026, also involves revised charge structures for Points of Presence (PoPs) for both legal entities and individual subscribers.

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has reclassified National Pension System’s Corporates scheme, bifurcating it into Legal Entities (Other than Government) and Government Entities.

Other than that, the pension body has also revised the charge structure for Point of Presence (PoP) under NPS for both legal entities and individual subscribers. The new structure came into effect from January 1, 2026.

Corporates scheme reclassified

In a circular dated March 10, 2026, PFRDA said that it has been decided that the existing ‘Corporates’ under NPS are proposed to be reclassified into:

• Legal entities (other than government)

• Government entities

What will be a government entity as per the new PFRDA rules?

The PFRDA circular further reads, “For this purpose, a ‘government entity’ will include a statutory body or a government company or any body corporate or any other entity under the ownership and the control of either central or any state government (including Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and State Public Sector Enterprises (SPSEs).”

PFRDA's instructions for government entities

The PFRDA circular reveals organisations which were associated with PFRDA under the Corporate Sector model, but which operate as an extended arm of the government, shall be categorised under the government sector model of NPS, and accordingly be tagged as 'government entities' with the respective Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs).

Such government entities shall be aligned with the government sector model under the NPS architecture, similar to central and state government entities and their autonomous bodies.

Under this framework, employees shall not be tagged through any Point of Presence (PoP) and, consequently PoP-related charges shall not be applicable. These entities shall continue to be governed by the PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) Regulations, 2015, as amended from time to time.

Eligibility to be a government entity will be subject to the following conditions:

• The PFRDA circular says an undertaking to the effect that all employees under the respective 'government entity' are mandatorily covered under NPS from any cut-off date.

• The Assets Under Management (AUM) under the Superannuation Fund (SAF), if any, whether managed directly by the 'government entity' or through any third party, shall be fully transferred to NPS Architecture within a period of one year from the date of issuance of the letter.

• The concerned 'government entity' shall possess full technical and operational capability to integrate directly with the CRA system(s) for NPS subscriber onboarding, contribution remittance, uploading of Subscriber Contribution Files (SCFs), grievance management, processing of exits and withdrawal cases and other related functions, without the involvement of any Point of Presence (PoP) and would implement the same at the earliest.

PFRDA revises NPS charges for NPS (All Citizen) including NPS Vatsalya and NPS Lite subscribers

PFRDA said that the revised charges apply to common schemes for legal entities (other than the government) as well as All Citizen Model accounts, including NPS Vatsalya and NPS Lite.

PFRDA said in a circular, in accordance with PoP Regulations, the applicable charges for PoPs for Common Schemes under NPS (All Citizen) including NPS Vatsalya and NPS Lite are hereby revised as under:

PoP charge structure for NPS accounts under legal entities charges will apply:
   

Annual charge: 0.20% per annum of Assets Under Management (AUM)

The charge will be adjusted through Net Asset Value (NAV) and paid quarterly to PoPs.

The charges will apply to all existing NPS accounts, except dormant accounts.

The regulator has also asked PoPs that have already informed Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs) about how these charges will be recovered from their employees to continue following the same structure.

However, PoPs that have not yet submitted their preferences must inform the respective CRA on or before March 27, 2026, says the circular.

Will dormant NPS accounts be charged?

Dormant accounts will not be charged. A dormant account is defined as such an account where subsequent to a contribution in a quarter, there is no contribution for four consecutive quarters as identified at the end of each quarter.

Charge structure for NPS All Citizen model, NPS Vatsalya and NPS Lite

For the All Citizen model of NPS, including NPS Vatsalya and NPS Lite, the regulator has specified the following charges:
   

*Where subscriber onboarding is undertaken through a fully digital and non-face-to-face mode, between the Point of Presence (PoP) and the subscriber, a reduced one-time onboarding charge of Rs 100/- may be applicable, as may be determined by the authority at the time of registration of PoP and thereafter.

The regulator has also specified the minimum contribution requirements for subscribers under the All Citizen model:

• Rs 250 minimum contribution at the time of onboarding

• Rs 10 minimum contribution for subsequent deposits

Who will not pay PoP charges?

Subscribers who open their accounts through the e-NPS platform and make further contributions through e-NPS or D-Remit will not have to pay PoP charges, says the circular

However, subscribers who open an NPS account through a PoP but later contribute via e-NPS or D-Remit will still be liable to pay PoP charges as prescribed.

[The Economic Times]