PFRDA names Vinod Pande as ombudsman

Pension regulator PFRDA today said it has appointed Vinod Kumar Pande as Stipendiary Ombudsman, a position where he will oversee timely and effective resolution of grievances of subscribers.
Pande earlier had stints with SBI and SBI Caps, India's largest domestic Investment Bank.
The ombudsman's appointment was a regulatory requirement, PFRDA Chairman Hemant Contractor told PTI.
PFRDA has been established by the Government for regulation and development of pension sector in order to protect the old age income security of subscribers.
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) takes various initiatives from time to time in order to simplify and improve the operational issues in National Pension System (NPS), simplification of account opening and withdrawal, and grievance management.

For putting in place a framework for timely and effective resolution of grievances, Pande has been appointed Stipendiary Ombudsman, the watchdog said in a statement.

Every intermediary under the NPS and any other pension scheme regulated by the Authority have to follow the grievance redressal, it said.
The Stipendiary Ombudsman, under PFRDA (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) Regulations, 2015, shall receive, consider and facilitate resolution of complaints or grievances. Moreover, he will approve a friendly or amicable settlement of the dispute between the parties.
Besides, the ombudsman will adjudicate such complaints in the event of failure of settlement thereof by friendly or amicable manner.

According to PFRDA, NPS has a unique architecture where under professional competencies of various intermediaries have been leveraged for efficient and cost effective service delivery.