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    Coronavirus impact: Processing of death claims under Atal Pension Yojana extended further

    Synopsis

    The timeline for processing of death claims requests under APY scheme, based on scanned documents, has been extended till September 30, and consequently, the deadline for submission of physical documents to CRA has been extended till October 30, 2020

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    After the death of the subscriber, the same pension amount will be paid to the spouse of the subscriber.
    The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has extended the processing of death claims under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) till October 30, 2020. A PFRDA circular issued on August 11, 2020, said, "Considering the difficulties faced by Point of Presence under Atal Pension Yojana (PoP-APY) in processing of death claim requests due to Covid 19 pandemic, it has been decided to ease the processing of death claim requests."

    This is the second time this deadline has been extended. Earlier, the deadline for submission of all requisite physical documents to Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRAs) was extended till July 31, 2020.

    In its August 11 circular, the pension fund regulator stated that considering the continuing disruption of normal activities and travel restrictions across various parts of the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the following extensions have been granted:

    • The timeline for processing of death claims requests under APY, based on scanned documents, has been extended till 30th September, 2020.
    • Consequently, the deadline for submission of physical documents to CRA has been extended till 30th October, 2020.

    What is Atal Pension Yojana scheme?
    The Atal Pension Yojana was launched by the Government of India in May, 2015 and is administered by the PFRDA. This scheme is open to all citizens of India who are in the age group of 18-40 years. Under the scheme, a subscriber will receive a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month after attaining the age of 60 years, depending upon his contributions.

    After the death of the subscriber, the same pension amount will be paid to the spouse of the subscriber. On the demise of both subscriber and spouse, the accumulated pension as accumulated till age 60 years of the subscriber will be returned to the nominee.

    Latest developments under Atal Pension Yojana
    Last month, the PFRDA had asked all banks to process upgrade/downgrade of pension amount requests of APY subscribers throughout the year with effect from July 1, 2020. Now subscribers can update pension amount once in a year. Earlier this facility was available only during the month of April.

    Further, from July 1, 2020 auto-debit of APY contributions has also started, which was stopped till June 30 due to PFRDA's circular issued on April 11. This was done to reduce the financial stress on APY subscribers caused due the covid-induced lockdown.

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    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    ...more
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