Income is important at old age because the aged need to cater for several expenses that come with the stage in life. You cannot earn for a lifetime, therefore, reaching a retirement corpus must be done when one is still working. But for the poor segment of society it is impossible to save for old age.
Therefore, the government of India has put into practice many pension schemes to enable the incapacitated persons to save periodically for post-retirement. One of them is the Atal Pension Yojana that is focused on the informal segment of the workers only.
The unorganized sector in India accounts for nearly 50 per cent of the Indian GDP and the 80 percent of the population is involved in this sector. To provide social security to employ such a large workforce the government introduced the Atal Pension Yojana in 2015.
About Atal Pension Yojana
The Atal Pension Yojana is one of Pension schemes launched in India and which replaced the Swavalamban Yojana. Inability to save from early age reduces the financial burden of underprivileged sections of the country and thus the scheme encourages early savings.
It is for this reason that several monthly subscription approaches exist, and a subscriber can put into the retirement corpus an amount that they are comfortable with.
Atal Pension Yojana Eligibility
- Any Indian discontented of 18 years of age can subscribe to the scheme and the Atal Pension Yojana age limit is 40 years.
- The scheme is available to customers of all classes with an account maintained with the bank.
- The individual further has to produce the Aadhaar enrolment or apply for Aadhaar authentication.
Features of the APY
The APY scheme details are as follows:
- The scheme is also subjected to Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority..
- If the individual is registered under the scheme, he is entitled for a pension ranging from ₹1000/- to ₹5000/- per month as soon as he touches 60 years. The pension amount therefore varies with the amount which has being contributed.
How Can You Apply for APY?
To enrol for the scheme, you can visit any nationalised bank in India and follow the steps below:
- The application form is also available on the official website of Atal Pension Yojana , you can download it from there or else you may visit a nationalised bank to get the form.
- Before joining the project, the applicant is supposed to submit photocopy of his/her Aadhaar card and the original copy for inspection.
- After filling the application form and uploading the ‘Know Your Customer’ document, you can then select the method of payment.
- An SMS notification of application approval will also be sent to the number provided by you. After this, you will successfully enroll yourself with the Atal Pension Yojana as per your need.
Penalty for Late Payment
There are penalty charges which may arise when you do not make the contributions on the APY scheme on time. They are as follows:
| Monthly contribution (in rupees) | Penalty charges |
| ₹100 | ₹1 |
| ₹101-500 | ₹2 |
| ₹501-1000 | ₹5 |
| ₹1001 and above | ₹10 |
In case you fail to make the payments on the account for six months, you will be locked out of the account. Whereas, in case of non-payment for a period of twelve months, the account automatically closes.”
Atal Pension Yojana Benefits
For this reason the APY benefits make the scheme appealing to those who wish to save for their retirement. The several advantages of the scheme are as follows:
- Atal Pension Yojana retirement benefit: Through consistent payments throughout your working years, after you retire, you receive pension every month. The pension payments range as 1000-200-3000/4000/5000.
- Atal Pension Yojana death benefit: The pension scheme is an added benefit for the subscriber which does not even stop on their death. Spouse is the first nominee who can either opt for continuing with the scheme or withdraw corpus amount.
- Secure investment backed by the government: It covers all types of risks and brings certain and fixed2 returns with it. Also, there is no worry about the investment amount because it is completely government of India financially protected.
Conclusion
A pension plan helps when one is past the working age or what can be referred to as planning or savings after one on is done earning. This propDiary means that you can spend the golden age of your life without any concern because you have money.
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