Govt forms panel to discuss bringing pension products under PFRDA

Currently, pension products floated by fund houses and insurance firms are regulated by Sebi and Irdai, respectively

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) Chairman Hemant Contractor said the government has set up a committee to look into a proposal to have all pension products under the PFRDA.

He, however, said while the work has started, it might take some time as it is a complicated process.

"We have taken it up. Since we are designated as the regulator for the pension industry. We are strongly of the view that any mutual fund or insurance that carries the world 'retirement' or 'super-annuation' unless it is approved by us," he said.

Last year, PFRDA had said it would seek the government to regulate all pension, including those issued by insurance companies as well as mutual fund houses. At present. pension products floated by fund houses and insurance companies are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), respectively. The committee by the government will have representatives from PFRDA, Irdai and Sebi, among others.

The National Pension System (NPS) corpus has touched Rs 1,43,000 crore. Contractor said with respect to selection of new fund managers, he said they would have a longer duration of maybe five years validity. PFRDA has also started e-NPS and, Contractor said, equal number of accounts are being opened both offline and online. On an average, everyday he said 200-300 accounts are opened online and 200-300 accounts offline.