APY subscriber base touches over 97 lakh by end of FY18: PFRDA

The subscriber base of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) stood at 97.05 lakh at the end of the 2017-18 fiscal, a tad lower than the target of 1 crore set by the pension regulator PFRDA.

APY, which mainly caters to the unorganised sector employees, saw an addition of over 48.21 lakh subscribers in 2017-18, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) said in a release today.

"At the end of financial year 2017-18, 97.05 lakh subscribers have enrolled under the Atal Pension Yojana," it said.

In 2016-17, the total number of subscribers under the APY reached 48.83 lakh with an absolute incremental addition of 23.98 lakh accounts.

In 2015-16, as many as 24.84 lakh subscribers were under the APY fold.

The PFRDA said it has taken various initiatives for the expansion of outreach and ease the operations under the APY and customers can also view their statement online.

Mobile applications were also introduced so that customers can see their account details, it said.

For the convenience of the subscribers and promoting digital initiatives of government, the PFRDA introduced online registration facility through eNPS (electronic-National Pension System) channel without the need to present any physical document.

The APY, which mainly was introduced for pension needs of the unorganised sector, can be availed by employees from all sectors in the age group from 18-40 years.

The scheme guarantees minimum pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month depending upon the contribution of the subscriber, from the age of 60 years.

The same pension would be paid to the spouse of the subscriber and on the demise of both the subscriber and spouse, the accumulated pension wealth is returned to the nominee, PFRDA said.

PFRDA Chairman Hemant Contractor had earlier hoped that the APY subscriber base will cross the 1-crore mark on a healthy growth in new additions to the scheme.