The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA) has allowed subscribers of the National Pension System (NPS) for a partial withdrawal of funds from their NPS accounts for meeting expenses related to the treatment of COVID-19, which has infected more than 6,000 people and claimed lives of 199 people in India so far.
The partial withdrawals shall be permitted to fulfill financial needs of the subscribers, if required to him/her against the request placed for partial withdrawals towards the treatment of the illness of subscriber, his legally wedded spouse, children, including a legally adopted child or dependent parents, as per the regulations, PFRDA said in the circular.
Employees working in central, state government establishments, as well as corporates across India, who are members of the NPS, can avail of this benefit.
To make the withdrawal, you will need to produce a medical certificate along with the partial withdrawal request.
“The other terms and conditions as prescribed under regulation 8 of the PFRDA (Exits and withdrawals under NPS) Regulations, 2015 and amendments thereto shall continue to be applicable regarding defining of limits and frequencies,” it added.
The regulating body for NPS has also clarified that the facility of partial withdrawal will not be applicable for Atal Pension Yojana (APY) subscribers. “We would like to clarify that presently, there is no provision for subscribers to make partial withdrawals under APY,” PFRDA added.
While the NPS caters to the central and state governments alongside autonomous bodies as well as individual taxpayers, APY is largely targeted for workers in the unorganized sector.
As of March 31, the total number of subscribers under NPS and APY stood at 3.46 crore. Of this, the number of APY subscribers was 2.11 crore, according to the PFRDA data.
Earlier on March 29, the Labour Ministry had allowed over 6 crore subscribers of Employees’ Provident Fund Scheme (EPFO) to withdraw an amount not exceeding their three months’ basic pay and dearness allowance from their EPF account in view of the lockdown to fight coronavirus.
