Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority of India (PFRDA) has allowed partial withdrawal from the National Pension Scheme (NPS) for covering expenses related to the treatment of coronavirus.
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“In view of the decision of the Government of India, which has declared COVID-19 as a pandemic, it has been decided to declare COVID-19 as a critical illness which is life-threatening in nature,” the pension fund regulator mentioned in a circular.
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These medical expenses could either for the subscriber or for his spouse, parents and children including legally adopted child. Other partial withdrawal rules from NPS remain unchanged, PFRDA said.
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The partial withdrawals shall be permitted to fulfil 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.
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PFRDA 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.
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NPS and APY are the two flagship pension scheme run by PFRDA. Whereas the NPS is for the central, state governments, autonomous bodies and corporates, APY is mainly meant to cater to the pension needs of those employed in the unorganised sector.

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Worth mentioning here is that partial withdrawal from NPS is allowed after three years from the date of joining the pension fund under specific circumstances which include higher education/marriage of children, purchase/construction of a residential house and for treatment of critical illness.
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Under the current rules, the diseases that are covered under critical illness are as follows:
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– Cancer
– Kidney Failure (End Stage Renal Failure)
– Primary Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
– Multiple Sclerosis
– Major Organ Transplant
– Coronary Artery Bypass Graft
– Aorta Graft Surgery
– Heart Valve Surgery
– Stroke
– Myocardial Infarction
– Coma
– Total blindness
– Paralysis
– Accident of serious/ life-threatening nature
– Any other critical illness of a life-threatening nature as stipulated in the circulars, guidelines or notifications issued by the Authority from time to time.
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Subscribers can make partial withdrawal to the tune of 25% of the contributions made by him as on the date of application for withdrawal. Maximum three partial withdrawals are allowed during the entire tenure of subscription.
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Partial withdrawal requests can be made both online and offline. In offline mode, the subscriber has to submit physical partial withdrawal form along with documents to Point of Presence service providers, based on which POP can initiate online request.