Updated on: June 21st, 2018 2:18 AM

Atal Pension Yojana (APY)

The Government of India introduced Atal Pension Yojana in June 2015 to provide social security for the old age workers in the unorganised sector. Atal Pension Yojana provides a way for workers in unorganised sector to voluntarily save money for their retirement. In this article, we will look at Atal Pension Yojana in detail.

Unorganised Sector

Sector comprises of small scale enterprises and not incorporated with the government rules are called as unorganised sector. Few examples of unorganised sector workers are listed below.

• Agricultural labourers
• Small and marginal farmers
• Weavers
• Carpenters
• Blacksmiths

Know more about Udyog Aadhar for SMEs.

Features of Atal Pension Yojana

As per Atal Pension Yojana, the subscribers will receive a fixed monthly pension of Rs.1000 to Rs. 5000 per month at the age of 60 depending on their contributions. The contribution level will vary and will be low if subscriber joins early and increase if he joins late. The Government will co-contribute 50% of the total contribution or Rs.1000 per Annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber account.

Government co-Contribution

The Government’s 50% contribution to the subscriber's account is for a period of five years. The scheme will continue after 5 years but Government Co-contribution will not be available to the subscriber. The following categories of persons are elgible for receiving government co-Contributions under Atal Pension Yojana

• Person who join the Pension Scheme between the period 01.06.2015 and 31.12.2018.
• Person who are not members of any statutory social security scheme.
• Person who are not income tax payers.

Benefits of Atal Pension Yojana

The following are some of the major benefits of the Atal Pension Yojana scheme:

Pension after 60

Atal Pension Yojana provides guaranteed Monthly Pension of Rs.1000 to Rs.5000 at the age of 60 until the death of the subscriber.

Beneficiaries

After the death of subscriber, the spouse will be entitled to get the exact same pension amount as the subscriber, until the death of the spouse. After the demise of both subscriber & spouse, the nominee will receive the entire pension amount that the subscriber had accumulated till 60 years of age.

Acts as Insurance

If the subscriber dies before 60 years, the spouse will have to choose any of the following options.

• Spouse can exit the scheme.
• Spouse can claim the accumulated amount.
• They can continue maintaining the account under the subscriber's name for the remaining years. The spouse of the subscriber will be qualified to receive the same pension amount as the subscriber until death of the spouse.

Eligibility for Atal Pension Yojana

Eligible conditions to subscribe Atal Pension Scheme are listed below.

• Person should be an India citizen.
• Age of the person should be between 18 & 40 years.
• Person should have a valid bank account.

Age of joining and contribution period for Atal Pension Yojana is provided below:

Age of Joining & Contribution Period
Minimum age of joining APY	18 Years
Maximum age of joining APY	40 Years
Start of pension	60 Years
Minimum period of contribution	20 years or more

Applying for Atal Pension Yojana

Applying for Atal Pension Yojana can be completed easily by following the steps below. Adhaar number & mobile number are mandatory for registration. Step 1: Visit the bank or post office where your savings bank account is held. Step 2: Fill up the Atal Pension Yojana registration form or apply through internet banking. Step 3: Choose auto debit facility for your contributions for this pension. The premium amount will be debited from the accounttill the age of 60 years.

Contribution to Atal Pension Yojana

The contributions can be made in monthly / quarterly / half yearly intervals through auto debit facility from savings bank account/ post office account.

Delayed Contribution

Banks will collect additional amount for delayed payments, such amount will vary from minimum Rs.1 per month to Rs.10 per month as shown below.

• Contribution up to Rs. 100 per month – Rs.1
• Contribution from Rs. 101 to 500 - Rs. 2
• Contribution from Rs.501 – 1000 - Re. 5
• Contribution above Rs.1001 - Rs.10

Discontinuation of Contribution

If the contribution is discontinued for 6 months, the account will be frozen. In case of no payment of contribution for 12 months, the account will be deactivated and after 24 months account will be closed.