5 Unknown Facts About Atal Pension Yojana

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) is a pension plan backed by the government of India for unorganized employees in the sector that allows subscribers to receive a guaranteed monthly pension of Rs 1,000-5,000 after retirement. The Atal Pension scheme is accessible at branches of India Post that facilitate basic banking approaches. For anyone between 18 and 40 years of age at the time of subscription, the scheme is accessible. By considering the contribution to the retirement fund under the Atal Pension scheme a predefined amount is withheld from the bank account of the eligible and registered subscriber. Based on considerations such as the subscriber's age and the preference of monthly pension, the deposit amount differs. 

Unknown Facts About Atal Pension Yojana

The 10 facts you need to know about the Atal Pension Scheme are as follows:

1. Eligibility required: Employees can apply for the Atal Pension scheme in the age range of 40 years and can have only one APY account. It is important for the individual to have a savings account either in a bank or post office.
2. Fixed monthly options: Five fixed monthly pension alternatives are currently offered by the Atal Pension Scheme: Rs 1,000, Rs 2,000, Rs 3,000, Rs 4,000, and Rs 5,000.
3. Deposit amount: The amount chosen at the time of account activation is withheld on a monthly, quarterly or half-yearly basis from the subscriber's account. The amount ranges every month between Rs 42 and Rs 1,454. At the time of opening the APY account, the first installment is withheld from the savings account of the subscriber.
4. Payment Method: By means of auto debits facility linked with the savings account of the subscriber, the contributions are paid at selected periods i.e. monthly, quarterly or half-yearly.
5. Assured pension benefit: A minimum pension is assured by the Atal Pension plan, which ensures that the government addresses any deficit in the overall determined returns as opposed to the expected returns over the contribution span. Any higher returns, on the other side, are provided to the subscriber in his or her savings account.
6. Maintenance of APY account: After active approval of the account, in order to ensure serviceability, the subscriber only has to maintain the installment balance in the associated savings account on set deadlines.
7. In case of late contribution: In the event that a subscriber does not have an adequate amount in his or her savings account at the deadline, the alternative to compensate a delayed installment along with outstanding interest is offered by the APY scheme. The deposit amount, along with overdue interest, is reimbursed the next month, which is Rs 1 per month for every Rs 100 for each overdue monthly deposit amount.
8. In case of default: In the event of a persistent failure, account maintenance costs and other related charges are periodically deducted from the Atal Pension account. Once the account balance hits zero, the account is terminated automatically.
9. Monthly contribution flexibility: It is allowed, under some conditions, to adjust to a lower or higher monthly contribution amount. This period is only open in the month of April, once a fiscal year.

Conclusion

The APY works better than the other annuity options that you can buy from the market. For instance, for a corpus of Rs 8.5 lakh, the monthly pension provided by the most life insurers under this annuity option currently is around Rs 4,000, while APY assures Rs 5,000.

Do read - Types Of Accounts Under NPS

Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.