Atal Pension Yojana (APY) account: PFRDA allows sign up via Aadhaar e-KYC

Atal Pension Yojana (APY) account: In a move that is expected to make it more convenient for customers to open a new Atal Pension Yojana (APY) account, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFDRA) has introduced a new online facility. The system relies on the Aadhaar based e-KYC functionality and can be completed digitally.

The PFRDA has issued a circular on October 27 that stated, “Now in order to further increase the outreach and simplify the process of subscription, CRA (Central Recordkeeping Agency) would be providing digital onboarding based through Aadhaar eKYC as an additional option." This means that customers, who would previously have to visit a bank, can now subscribe to the program online.

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The Aadhaar e-KYC process joins the existing Aadhaar XML based onboarding process, and gives customers two paperless options to pick from. According to the report, the information that is received from the subscribers based on the e-KYC will include Aadhaar details, demographic information, pension amount, mode of payment, spouse/nominee name and bank account information and more. These details will be shared with the banks where the customer holds a savings account, according to a report by Livemint.

After the information is received by the bank, an auto-debit feature for the account can be turned on, based on the guaranteed pension amount which is selected by the subscriber and all future servicing will be provided by the APY service providers (or APY-SP) according to the report. All service provider banks have reportedly been asked to provide a link to e-APY on their websites.

Launched in 2015, the APY scheme allows unorganised workers to gain access to social security in the form of a pension ( ₹1,000 to ₹5,000) while contributing a monthly fee towards the same. Meanwhile, the CRA will be involved in the process of integrating the existing APY accounts, according to the report - subscribers will be able to provide consent for collection of Aadhaar details which will reportedly be shared with the CRA for seeding.