Withdrawal from NPS simplified

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has simplified the process of withdrawal from the National Pension System (NPS), and paved the way for online withdrawal.

The pension regulator has done away with requirement for many documents earlier needed for withdrawal from one's NPS account. Now, you do not require the original Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) or original death certificate (in case of exits due to death) to withdraw money from an NPS account.

Instead of the original death certificate, one can now submit copy of the death certificate duly attested by the concerned pay and account officer (PAO) with a specific certification that it is a true copy of the original death certificate. A pay and accounts office government officers responsible for maintaining the contribution details for subscribers covered under NPS

Earlier, a cancelled cheque or bank certificate was required  for withdrawing money. Now, if the cheque or bank certificate is not there,  a subscriber can also produce bank passbook to withdraw money from the account.

The PFRDA in a circular issued has said, "they have received feedback from subscribers and other stakeholders saying that the burden of documentation is too heavy and needs to be reduced for a smooth operation of the system. The Authority based on the feedback and also upon re-examination of the procedural requirements at various levels and has decided to simplify the documentary requirements for the Government subscriber sector to begin with."

Meanwhile, the facility of online withdrawal would be available on the website of the central record keeping agency (CRA)--NSDL--from 1 April 2015.

The request for online withdrawal can be initiated by the subscriber himself or through any nodal agency of the CRA.

"When the applicant herself does not file an online withdrawal/exit application but submits the physical application, nodal offices will key in the particulars and initiate (capture, verify and submit) the withdrawal requests in CRA system under all the three categories," says PFRDA in a circular.

In case, where the subscriber herself request for online withdrawal at the CRA website, the application would be verified by the nodal office.

NPS is a government-run pension fund for organised and unorganised sectors. It has 85 lakh subscribers and manages Rs 74,000 crore.

Documents required for withdrawal from NPS 1)

*KYC documents, Bank Passbook/cancelled cheque/bank certificate

*KYC documents include photo ID proof and address proof of the claimant