PFRDA restores pre-Covid norms for withdrawals by govt NPS subscribers

The government sector NPS subscribers will have to make a request for partial withdrawal of their National Pension System (NPS) corpus only through their associated nodal offices from January 1, 2023.

The government sector NPS subscribers include employees of central and state governments and autonomous bodies.

The Pension Fund Regulatory And Development Authority (PFRDA) relaxed the norms during the COVID pandemic by allowing withdrawals under NPS through self-declaration.

"With the abating of the pandemic-related difficulties and relaxation of lockdown restrictions, the issue examined after taking into consideration of the prevalent practices, circumstances and law, it has been decided to make it mandatory for all the Government sector subscribers to submit their requests through their associated nodal offices," it said in a circular.

PFRDA said the relaxation given in January 2021 had benefited the subscribers during the COVID pandemic and immobility caused due to lockdowns in various parts of the country to contain the spread of Coronavirus.