NPS Intermediaries

NPS Trust
PFRDA has established the NPS Trust under Indian Trust Act, 1982 and appointed NPS Board of Trustees in whom the administration of the “New Pension System” vests under Indian Law. The Trust is responsible for taking care of the funds under the NPS.The Trust holds an account with the Bank of India and this bank is designated as the NPS Trustee Bank.

Functions of NPS Trust

• To call for any information, report etc. from PF(s), Trustee Bank and Custodian.
• To issue directions to PF(s) for protecting the interest of subscribers.
• To appoint a panel of independent auditors to undertake compliance audit.
• To verify that Trustee bank is performing its functions as per the provisions of the Agreement with NPS Trust.
• To verify that PF(s) are strictly following the terms and conditions of Investment Management agreement (IMA) Agreement with NPS Trust.

Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA)

National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL) has been appointed as the CRA. The recordkeeping, administration and customer service functions for all subscribers of the NPS shall be centralized and performed by the CRA. The CRA shall also provide periodic, consolidated PRAN statements to each subscriber.

Services provided by CRA to Subscribers

The Following services would be provided by CRA to the subscribers:

• Sending Annual account statements: Providing subscribers with periodic PRAN account statements detailing the total contribution, time-wise credits in to the account and other relevant information.
• Grievance Redressal Report: Subscriber can register grievances through the web interface, alternatively subscribers can send grievances through other channels also. CRA registers all complaints in electronic form and sends the status of Grievance/Redressal to Subscriber.
• Investment Scheme and Switching: Acting on/transmitting instructions of subscribers in respect of:-
  • Investment option selection;
  • Switching over options;
  • Confirmation report.
• Retirement Account Information to be provided to subscribers:
  • Pension wealth accumulated in their PRA
  • Amount that can be withdrawn by subscriber in lump sum.
• Web enabled services: CRA provides subscribers with a web based interface to view detailed history of transactions of PRA. In due course subscriber shall be able to give switching instructions through this interface.

Bank of India is functioning as NPS Trustee Bank. It would manage the banking of the Pension Funds in accordance with applicable provisions of the NPS, the schemes the guidelines/notifications, issued by PFRDA, Ministry of Finance, and Government of India from time to time as per applicable law.

Functions of Trustee Bank

1.The Bank would interface with Pension Funds For

• Transfer of funds to the PFM’s bank account based on the instructions received from CRA and information flow for same.
• Receipt of funds from the PFM’s bank account to the NPS Trust Bank’s account based on the instructions received from CRA and information flow for same.
• Report on discrepancies, if any, to/from the PFM regarding fund transfer/receipt of funds based on information flow received from PFM/CRA and actual fund transfer.

2.The Bank would interface with the CRA for

• Upload of details of contribution received from Pay and Accounts office in specified file format to CRA.
• Transfer of funds based on the instructions received from CRA during the settlement process to various entities.
• Confirmation report by CRA to the bank and the discrepancy report by CRA to the Bank.
• Electronic Fund Transfer/Preparation of cheques for disbursement from withdrawal account and forwarding it to CRA.
• Upload of statement of closing balance of the NPS Trust account with the Bank to the CRA system.
• Daily reconciliation between balances in various CRA related accounts of the Bank with the details available in CRA system.
• Downloading of incremental PAO Master file and Transaction id list file.
• Transfer of funds based on the instructions of CRA to the Bank to Annuity Service provider and or to the withdrawal account.

3.The Bank would interface and provide such reports as may be required by Trustee Custodian and other             entities of the NPS architecture as may be prescribed by PFRDA from time to time.

Pensions Funds (PFs)/Pension Fund Managers (PFMs):

Appointed PFs would manage the retirement savings of subscribers under the NPS.The PFs are required to invest strictly in accordance with guidelines issued by the government/PFRDA.

NPS allows you to choose from any one of the following six entities (in alphabetical order) to manage your pension fund:-

• ICICI Prudential Pension Funds Management Company Limited
• IDFC Pension Fund Management Company Limited
• Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund Limited
• Reliance Capital Pension Fund Limited
• SBI Pension Funds Private Limited
• UTI Retirement Solutions Limited

Points of Presence (POP):

Points of Presence (POP) act as the customer interface for non-government subscribers/individual citizens who wish to open Permanent Retirement Account (PRA) with Central Record Keeping Agency (CRA) for the purpose of subscribing to the New Pension System (NPS).

• To receive the duly filled application form along with the KYC documentation as may be applicable from time to time.
• To verify KYC documents as may be required from time to time.
• To collect and verify contributions that may be received through Cash/Cheque/Demand Draft.
• To collect/deduct NPS application processing fees and issue of receipt to the Subscriber against the same.
• To submit complete and accepted forms on a daily basis, to CRA/CRA Facilitation Centre (FC).
• To upload the subscribed contribution files into CRA system and simultaneously arrange to transfer the funds into the account of the NPS trust maintained with the Trustee Bank.
• To maintain and report records of all transactions in accordance with the provisions of PML Act, 2002 and Rules framed there under, as may be applicable, from time to time.

• Verify PRAN card details on the deposit slip, the format for which shall be prescribed by PFRDA.
• Collection and verification of contributions that a may be received through cash/cheque/Demand Draft/Electronic Clearing System (ECS).
• Collection/deduction of contribution processing fee and issue of receipt to the subscriber against the same.
• Uploading subscriber contribution details online into the CRA system, in respect of subscribers for whom clear funds are available, on a daily basis.
• Remit clear funds into the account of the NPS trust maintained with the Trustee Bank on at least T+1 basis.
• Maintain hard copies of deposit slips.

• Carry out changes in subscriber details on request by subscriber subject to the conditions stipulated by PFRDA.
• Receiving switch request for change in PFM and/or investment option from subscriber and transmitting the same to CRA.
• Receiving withdrawal requests from subscriber and transmitting the same to CRA. For this purpose, subscriber would put in a withdrawal request to POP-SP. The subscriber’s pension wealth would be credited directly to this bank account by trustee bank, on receiving instructions from CRA, through RTGS/NEFT or by way of a pay order where his/her personal bank details are not available.
• Attending to subscribers’ request for shift to another POP-SP.
• Any other NPS Account related service as may be prescribed by PFRDA from time to time.

• Receiving of grievances submitted by the subscriber against POP/POP-SP or any other NPS Intermediary in the format prescribed by PFRDA and uploading of all grievances in the Central Grievance Management system (CGMS) of CRA on a daily basis. The CGMS system of CRA would route the grievances to respective NPS intermediaries.
• Receiving grievances raised by the subscriber against POP/POP-SP through the CRA call centre/CGMS of CRA by accessing the CGMS.