Unified Pension Scheme: Govt clarifies rules for contributions during suspension and probation

In an office memorandum dated October 27, 2026, the department said how contributions are to be handled during suspension.

It said that Rule 6(2) of the Central Civil Services (Implementation of Unified Pension Scheme under the National Pension System) Rules, 2025, provides that "Contribution may be made by the subscriber, at his option, during the period of suspension."

Further, Rule 7(3) provides that "in the case of a subscriber under suspension, contribution shall be made by the government on the basis of the emoluments determined by taking into account the subsistence allowance paid to the subscriber during the period of such suspension".

The first proviso to Rule 7(3) states that "no contribution shall be made by the government during the period of suspension where the subscriber had opted not to pay his contribution during the said period of suspension".

The memorandum also dealt with what happens if the employee is eventually cleared.

Where the final orders passed on conclusion of the inquiry treat the suspension period as duty or leave for which leave salary is payable, contributions are to be recomputed on the emoluments the subscriber becomes entitled to for that period.

The difference between the amount that should have been deposited and what was actually deposited is then credited to the individual corpus, "valued on the net asset value of the default pattern and corresponding units on last working day of the month in which contributions have to be adjusted."

The same treatment applies to the government's share.

On probation, a separate clarification by the Department said that the contribution is not optional.

Rule 6(6) of the rules "provides that the subscriber shall contribute to the Unified Pension Scheme during the period of probation," the department said, asking ministries to bring the provision to the notice of personnel handling UPS and NPS matters for strict implementation.

Ministries and departments have been asked to circulate the suspension-related provisions as well to officials dealing with UPS/NPS matters in their attached and subordinate offices "for strict implementation".

Both clarifications matter for younger employees in particular, since the UPS corpus is built month by month and a gap in contributions during suspension, unless later regularised through a favourable inquiry order, can leave a permanent hole in the retirement corpus.