NPS withdrawal: “In the current pandemic situation, considering that NPS subscribers may not be in a position to submit physical exit documents, the Nodal offices are advised to accept the scanned and self-certified images of documents through digital means,” PFRDA said.
The subscribers of the government’s saving scheme NPS can now submit their documents for NPS withdrawal of funds online till June 30, 2020, PFRDA said.
NPS subscribers can now submit scanned and self-certified images of exit documents through digital means as a special case and process their requests. The digital process is allowed only till June 30, 2020, PFRDA said in a circular dated June 5. Normally, NPS subscribers have to submit exit documents physically to the nodal office or point-of-presence providers (POPs).
The nationwide lockdown led to numerous job losses across sectors. In such a scenario, withdrawal norms in several government savings schemes such as Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) and the NPS have been relaxed.
Offline withdrawal process before
NPS withdrawal including partial withdrawal is allowed as defined under NPS exit regulations. NPS subscribers who want to withdraw are required to submit the duly filled-up withdrawal forms along with the supporting documents to the associated nodal officers or Points of Presence (POP) for processing their request.
After submission of withdrawal documents by the subscribers, it is the responsibility of nodal officers or POPs to check the genuineness of documents and verify the identity of the applicant before authorizing their requests in the CRA system.
Upon authorization, withdrawal requests are executed in the CRA system to allow lump sum and the subscribers’ information is shared with Annuity Service Provider (ASP) for issuing the annuity. Subsequently, Nodal officers/ POPs submit physical withdrawal documents to CRAs for storage and record keeping.
Online process now
PFRDA in a statement said, “In the current situation and the challenges, considering that the subscribers may not be in a position to submit the physical exit documents, the nodal offices or POPs are advised to accept the scanned and self-certified images of documents through digital means as a special case and process their requests”.
The requests can be received from the registered email ids of subscribers or nodal officers. POPs or nodal officer will carry out and be responsible for due diligence before authorizing the withdrawal request.
The existing facility to upload the withdrawal-related documents in the CRA system while initiating the ‘online withdrawal’ request can be used quite extensively by subscribers, nodal officers, or POPs. The documents thus uploaded help in instantaneous Processing of lump sum and enable ASP to issue annuity based on the documents already uploaded.
NPS brings an attractive long term saving avenue to effectively plan retirement through the safe and regulated market-based return. It is regulated by PFRDA.
