Pfrda looks at doubling Atal pension scheme accounts to 5 mn

Pension fund regulator Pfrda is looking at nearly doubling the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) this fiscal year by opening 5 million accounts, a top official said today.
"We have collected around Rs 750 crore under APY which replaced the Swavalamban scheme last June, so far with 2.8 million accounts. We want to close the current financial year by taking it to 5 million," Pfrda chairman Hemant Contractor told PTI.
He made it clear that APY will continue as long as the government wants the scheme to continue.
Talking about Swavalamban scheme he said "we are not taking any fresh investment under this scheme but only existing investments."

The national pension scheme (NPS) has given a return of around 9 per cent in 2015-16, he added.
Commenting on the impact of exemption of 40 per cent on NPS withdrawals which was announced in the current Budget, he said it is too early to see the impact though he believes that it should appeal to a lot of people.

Contractor said the new pension fund managers will join within a month or so. Currently, there are seven pension fund managers.
He also said the increased commission for pension fund managers will also be decided by the regulator within a month or so. Currently, the fund managers are getting merely 0.01 per cent as commission and half of that goes to Pfrda in the form of registration fee every year.

The increased commission for pension fund managers is also a part of the request for proposal which will be opened by the regulator in a month or so.
Addressing a seminar on corporate bond markets organised by Crisil earlier in the day, Contractor said the regulator was ready to look at investing in lower rated instrument if there is credit protection.