• Indian citizen, age 18-40 at entry
• Active savings bank account / post office account
• Aadhaar (mandatory)
• NOT eligible: income tax payers (post September 2022), government employees (covered by NPS)

Pension Rs 1,000 / 2,000 / 3,000 / 4,000 / 5,000 per month based on chosen tier. Spouse continues pension after subscriber death. Lump sum to nominee on both deaths (~Rs 1.7L for Rs 1K tier; Rs 8.5L for Rs 5K tier).

1. Visit your bank or post office — Submit APY form + Aadhaar + active savings account.
2. Choose pension tier — Rs 1K / 2K / 3K / 4K / 5K per month after age 60.
3. Choose contribution mode — Monthly / quarterly / half-yearly auto-debit.
4. Auto-debit starts — Contributions deducted automatically from chosen account.
5. Annual statement — Bank sends statement of contributions + accumulated corpus.

• Aadhaar
• Active savings bank / post office account
• Mobile number

Auto-debit starts in 30 days. Pension begins on 60th birthday.

• Official portal: npscra.nsdl.co.in
• Helpline: APY Helpline: 1800-110-708

• Insufficient bank balance — auto-debit fails; bank charges Rs 1/day. Maintain balance.
• Income tax payer status — bars new enrolment post September 2022. Existing enrollees can continue.
• Want to exit early — pre-60 exit allowed only on terminal illness / death; otherwise corpus locked till 60.
• Want to upgrade tier — annual upgrade allowed during April-September window.

Most “delays” or “rejections” clear within 7-15 days of an RTI being filed. Use this 5-question template:

1. Status of my application no. _____ dated _____ as on date.
2. Name + designation of dealing officer assigned to my file.
3. Reasons for delay beyond the statutory timeline.
4. Copy of any noting / movement of my file in the past 30 days.
5. Likely date of disbursement / decision.

Auto-fill the PIO + your case: Open the AI RTI Drafter →

More schemes for you: All unorganised workers schemes

Yes — government guarantees the minimum pension if returns fall short. PFRDA manages funds.

Spouse continues contributions till age 60 + receives pension. OR full corpus refunded to nominee.

Yes — once a year (April-September). Contribution adjusts upward.

Allowed only for terminal illness / death of subscriber. Otherwise corpus stays till 60.

• All 150 Sarkari Yojanas
• 25 status-check guides
• 30 documents-required checklists
• 25 how-to-apply guides
• 16 rejection-recovery guides
• 10 audience-hub schemes
• 32 helplines + grievance routes
• Full RTI Playbook

• Official portal: npscra.nsdl.co.in
• Issued by: Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA)
• Launched: 2015
• Citizen feedback via %%AwaazRTI%% (composite, identifying details removed)

Last reviewed: 26 April 2026.