National Pension System: PFRDA clarifies NPS charge structure effective from 1 July 2026

The circular does not introduce a new framework but explains and refines existing rules related to annual maintenance charges, dormant accounts, Tier I and Tier II accounts, and other fee structures applicable to subscribers.

With reference to Circular No. PFRDA/2025/06/REG-CRA/01 dated 15 September 2025 on Guidelines on Price Discovery Process for the charges of CRAs for the services rendered by them to the subscribers, the following may be noted.

Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC) under NPS

Each pension scheme under a PRAN will be treated as a separate account for both Tier I and Tier II. Accordingly, AMC will be applied separately to each account.

For dormant accounts, AMC will be charged at 10% of the applicable AMC for that account (Tier I/Tier II).

i) A dormant account is one where no contribution is made for four consecutive quarters. It will be marked as dormant in the first week of the following quarter. The reduced AMC will apply from that quarter onward and will continue until the account becomes active again. Once a contribution is received, the account will be reclassified as active in the first week of the next quarter.

ii) CRAs are required to implement the identification and tagging of dormant and active accounts as per these rules from 1 July 2026.

For determining the applicable AMC the corpus available in the account as at the end of the quarter shall be considered.

PRAN opening charge

The PRAN Opening Charge shall apply only at the time of initial PRAN generation. For activation and opening of each account, Tier I, Tier II, within an existing PRAN, the charge shall be NIL.

Zero balance accounts

AMC for accounts with NIL balance under APY NPS Lite shall be NIL.

Mode of charge collection

The applicable charges shall be collected by CRAs at the end of each quarter by way of an invoice raised on the concerned entity in respect of accounts where the employer bears CRA charges or through unit deduction from the subscriber’s account as applicable.

Continuation of earlier rules

All the other stipulations as contained in the referred Circular dated 15 September 2025 shall remain in full force and effect.

The revised framework is aimed at rationalising CRA charges under NPS while introducing clarity on dormant accounts, Tier II charges, and zero balance accounts. The changes will come into effect from 1 July 2026.