NBBL introduces national pension system on Bharat Connect platform

NPCI Bharat BillPay (NBBL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), on Tuesday partnered with the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to integrate the National Pension System (NPS) as a biller category on the Bharat Connect platform.

The Bharat Connect platform was earlier known as Bharat Bill Payment System.

With this partnership, individual investors will be able to contribute to existing NPS accounts with the help of Bharat Connect-enabled platforms.

NBBL said the category has gone live for contributions on platforms such as Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM), PhonePe, MobiKwik, and Kotak Mahindra Bank’s net banking channel.

More players are expected to participate soon.

Over the past five years, NPS has recorded growth in both the volume and value of contributions.

As of September 2024, the subscriber base for NPS stood at around 3.8 million for retail accounts, 2.1 million for corporate accounts, and 9.4 million for government accounts.

NBBL collaborated with Axis Bank as a Biller Operating Unit (BOU) and technology service provider (TSP) Setu for integrating NPS with its platform.

“Building on the government’s vision of making essential financial services more inclusive, this integration will enable millions of NPS subscribers to invest in their future from the platform of their choice, democratised by Bharat Connect,” said Noopur Chaturvedi, chief executive officer (CEO), NBBL.

Bharat Connect has onboarded all central record-keeping agencies, including Protean, KFintech, and CAMS, ensuring that every existing NPS customer can make their contributions via Bharat Connect.