New Pension System (NPS) and its-implementation: Railway Board Order enclosing the PFRDA's letter No. PFRDA/19/CG/1/39 dated 01.08.2016:-

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(RAILWAY BOARD)

RBA No. :54/2016

No. 201 6/ AC-II/ 21 / 7 

New Delhi, dated: . 16.08.2016

General Managers, FA&CAOS and CPOs,

All Indian Railways. and PUs

Sub: New Pension System (NPS) and its-implementation.

Please find enclosed PFRDA’S letter no. PFRDA/19/CG/1/39 dated 01.08.2016 on the above subject. In this regard, the "following has been desired:

i. Distribution of comprehensive brochure prepared by PFRDA for government Sector subscribers.

ii. Updation of contact details Of all the underlying offices in the records of CRA for better communication flow.

iii Setting up of dedicated NPS Cell

iv. Displaying related information on the website of n the Ministry and incorporating the same link in the ‘Employee’s corner’

As regards (iv.) above, all, the important instructions issued by Accounts Dte are available on the Indian Railway’s website as under:

www.indianrailways.gov.in

↓

About Indian Railways

↓

Railway Board Directorates

↓

Accounts

↓

Instructions on NPS 

Kindly ensure circulation of these instructions so that the subscribers and nodal. offices are aware of initiatives taken for their benefit.

DA: As above 

(Amitesh Kumar Sinha)

Director Finance/CCA

Railway Board

PFRDA

R.V. Verma

Member

PENSION FUND REGULATORY

AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

B-14/A, First Floor, Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhawan,

Qutab Institutional Area, Katwaria Sarai

New Delhi-110016

FILE NO. PFRDA/19/CG/1/39  

01st August, 2016

Dear ______________

Subject: National Pension System (NPS) and its implementation.

I am writing in the context of the National Pension System (NPS) and its implementation in theCentral Government sector - Ministries & departments including the Central Autonomous Bodies under their jurisdiction. I would like to highlight the important measures taken by PFRDA in strengthening the systems, in the interest of the ultimate beneficiary - the subscriber and other stakeholders.

2. After the passage of PFRDA Act, 2013, various regulations have been framed by PFRDA under the ambit of the Act. The basic purpose of framing regulations is to ensure protection of subscriber interest. Prominent ones among the regulations are PFRDA (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) Regulations, 2015 and PFRDA (Exits Withdrawals under the NPS) Regulations, 2015. You will appreciate that PFRDA (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) Regulations, 2015, had laid down clear guidelines with respect to redressal of subscriber grievances. Further, Exit Regulations of PFRDA

have specified the provisions and process relating to exit and withdrawal in detail.

3. It has been PFRDA’S endeavour to take various initiatives from time to time in order to simplify and improve the operational issues in National Pension System (NPS) for ease of transaction for subscribers. Towards this end, we have introduced a number of new functionalities under NPS architecture such as simplification of account opening, withdrawal, grievance management etc. In this regard, recently many new functionalities have been released by the Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA) to ease operations for the benefit of subscribers and nodal offices. The details of the functionalities released recently for the nodal offices under Govt. Sector are enclosed as Annexure A.

4. As our main focus is on the subscriber, around whom the entire system revolves, we have also provided several facilities to them for easing the process and making them more user friendly. The following are the important initiatives taken in this direction:

(i) SMS and email alerts,

(ii) Centralized Grievance Management System (CGMS) with a pre-determined turnaround time for resolution of grievances related to different services.

(iii) Call Centre facility.

(iv) Periodic consolidated SoT (Statement of Transactions)

(v) Web based access to all subscribers to view SoTs and facility to modify certain data like mobile number & email id on their own.

(vi) Subscriber awareness programs at various locations and centers.

In addition to the above, several new functionalities have also been introduced in the CRA system for the benefit of the subscribers. The details of the same are enclosed as Annexure B.

5. We would very much appreciate if the Central Government ministries departments may undertake the following measures to enhance the effectiveness of the system:

(a) Distribution of comprehensive brochure prepared by PFRDA for government sector subscribers (copy enclosed). 

(b) Updation of contact details of all the underlying offices in the records of CRA for better communication flow.

(c) Setting up of a dedicated NPS Cell

(d).Displaying NPS related information on the website of your Ministry and incorporating the same in link like ‘ Employee’s corner’.

6. We feel that there is urgent need to disseminate more information among the dealing officials -Pay & Accounts Offices(PAOs) Drawing & Disbursing officers (DDOs) of the CG Ministries & Departments for resolving the concerns and covering the gaps. We have recently engaged Crux Management Services Pvt. Ltd. as a training agency for imparting training to the nodal officers of CG Ministries/ Departments. We request you to nominate maximum number of DDOs from your Ministry to the training programmes which PFRDA is coordinating. Besides, workshops may be organized by CG Ministries & Department for their respective nodal offices also in order to increase

subscriber awareness and for imparting operational knowledge to PrAOs/PAOs/DDOs, wherein PF RDA and CRA officials may also participate.

We are confident that the implementation of NPS and streamlining .of the process is receiving your due attention. You may like to convene regular meetings to review the implementation of NPS and the new fun'ctionalities which wrll go a long way in ensuring smooth implementation of NPS. PFRDA will be glad to provide all necessary support and cooperation. Should your office need further clarifications, they are welcome to contact Sh. Ashish Kumar, General Manager at ashish.kumar@pfrda org.in.

With Regards,

Yours sincerely

sd/-

(R.V.Verma)

Mr. S. Mookerjee,

Financial Commissioner

Ministry of Railways,

Room No.232, Rail Bhavan,

New Delhi - 110001.

Encl.: A/a

Annexure A

The details of the functionalities released recently for the nodal offices under Govt. Sector 

Functionality for nodal offices on Tier-II operations and voluntary contribution processing under Tier-I	The Govt. sector Nodal Offices have now been provided with utility for activating the Tier II account and its operation for all Government employees. The Government subscribers (mandatorily covered under NPS) can also approach their “associated Nodal Office for making additional investment (Voluntary Contributions) in their PRAN - Tier I account in order to claim tax benefits.
Upload of unequal contribution for Govt. employees	In, case of Govt.‘ sector employees, the Nodal Office is required to prepare and upload the contribution file wherein the Employee and Employer Contribution are equal for each subscriber. This functionality will now allow the Nodal Offices to prepare and upload contribution files where Employer and Employee contribution amount are not. same due to various exceptional reasons.
Insertion of QR Code facility on backside of PRAN	For new PRAN cards, a Quick Response (QR) code will be inserted, which when scanned on a smart phone will enable easy access to CRA website for any information on NPS.
Grievance resolution by monitoring office in CRA system	In case of Govt. sector Nodal offices, only the PAOs/DTOs can provide resolution remarks for the grievances raised against them by ' their associated subscribers in Central Grievance Management System (CG-MS) module. However, the mapped Pr.AOs/DTAs can only monitor the status of the grievances (using ‘Token No') raised against underlying PAOs/DTOs. Now, with the new facility made available in the CRA system, the Pr.AOs/DTAs can verify whether the PAO/DTO hasresoived the grievance.
Pop - Up window for resolution of pending grievance in CRA system	To aid the Nodal Offices, a pop-up alert is displayed on the home page immediately after the User logs in to CRA website (www.cra-nsdl.com). The pop-up displays the count of grievances pending (if any) for more than 30 days. The User has two options i.e., either to resolve the grievances immediately by selecting the option ‘Resolve Now’ (which will guide the user to 'grievance resolution' screen) or to select 'Resolve Later’ to continue with regular operations and provide resolutions to the grievances later, The pop-up window is a reminder to all the Nodal Offices which have any grievance pending for resolution beyond 30 days in Central Grievance Management system (CGMS) module.
Functionality for capturing bank details and contact details of the nodal offices	‘A facility has been provided to Nodal Offices of Central Govemment to enter the contact details of their Nodal Officer (along with details of alternate Nodal Officer) and the Bank account details of respective Nodal Office in CRA system. This will help Trustee Bank and CRA to identify the nodal offices for better coordination.
Login facility for, DDOs in CRA system	The DDOs c an login the CRA system using User ID & I-PIN (password). The DDOs can generate their l-PIN by capturing a request through instant reset option in the CRA system (www.cra-nsdl.com) and getting it authorized by their associated Nodal Office (PAOs/DTOs). This facility has been granted to the DDOs to enable them to view various reports, which is quite helpful in day to day functioning.

Annexure B 

Features released recently for NPS Subscribers

1. Mobile App

Mobile App for NPS' is nowavailable to the Subscriber's in ’Google Play Store’ as NPS by NSDL e-Gov’ for installation and use. The following features are available to the Subscribers in Mobile App:

a) Transaction Statement: Using this feature, Subscriber will be able to raise the request for Transaction Statement for a. particular financial year. The statement will be sent to the Subscriber’s registered mail ID at end of the day.

b) Account details view: Subscriber can view his / her NPS account details.

c) Statement of Holding view: Details of scheme Wise units alongwith latest NAV and the total value of the schemes (as on date) is available.

d) View of last 5 contributions: Details of the last five contributions credited will be available i.e.,‘ credit date, tier type, amount and. contribution remarks.

e) Change in contact details (Telephone/ Mobile no./ email ID): At present, Subscriber can change his/ her contact details in CRA system using login credential. The same feature has been extended in Mobile App.

f) Change password/ Security Question: Subscriber can add / modify his her password and set security question (for password reset) through Mobile App. Subscriber will also be able to reset his/ her password by answering secret questions. 

g) Notifications: Notifications, if any, from CRA will be available to the Subscriber. Short messages will be displayed here.

2. Change of address using Aadhaar authentication

The Subscribers can now update/modify their address on their own using Aadhaar based authentication. After logging in CRA, Subscriber will use the menu Update Address”. After clicking on the menu ”Update Address”, Subscriber will prevode the Aadhaar No and "click on the ’submit’ button. 'On clicking on submit button, ' an OTP will be sent to Subscriber’s mobile. Once the Subscriber authenticates by submitting the OTP, address details from Aadhaar system will be fetched and updated in the CRA system. In this process, Subscriber will be able to update permanent as well as correspondence address. At present, this feature has been made available to All Citizens of India and Corporate sector. It will be extended to Government Subscriber Shortly.

3. Scheme Preference change facility

The NPS Subscribers associated to All Citizens of India (UoS), Corporate sector and Government sector (for Tier‘SII-only) can now change their Scheme Preference after logging in. An OTP will be sent to the Subscriber (on their registered mobile number) once Subscriber topts to change his / her Scheme Preference. After authentication is done with OTP, the Subscriber can change their PFM, Asset Class, Allocation ratio, Scheme Options.

4. Tier II activation through eNPS

Any subscriber having Tier I account in NPS can now activate Tier II account online through eNPS. To initiate the Tier‘II activation, Subscriber has to enter his/her PRAN, DOB and PAN. An OTP will be generated and will be sent to the registered mobile number.  Subscriber has to enter the OTP and proceed for Tier II activation under 

5. KYC re-verification using Aadhaar authentication

A Subscriber whose Bank has not confirmed (rejected) his / her KYC verification request can now update the address details and confirm KYC using Aadhaar based authentication. The Subscriber need to simply go to eNPS site, click on Update details and proceed.

6. Facility to contribute Online

Subscribers are contributing through online mode using eNPS portal of. NPS Trust. Now, a facility has been made available to contribute online by Subscribers using IPIN credentials in CRA system. Subscriber can login into the CRA system and click to ”Contribution” menu. On submission, the Subscriber will be redirected to eNPS contribution page from Where he / she can contribute as per existing process of eNPS.

7. Withdrawal from Tier II account

At present, for Withdrawal from Tier II account, the NPS subscribers are required to visit the branch of the' Point of Presence (POPS) or Nodal Office which is mapped to him / her. Now, the NPS Subscribers have a facility to initiate Withdrawal request from Tier II account using their login credentials and OTP authentication on registered mobile number.

8. Online IPIN generation

The eNPS Subscribers can now access the CRA system immediately after registering without waiting for physical I-PIN to be despatched. Facility is now available where the Subscriber will generate I-PIN instantly and access his/her NPS account.

Source: http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/uploads/directorate/accounts/downloads/circular/2016/RBA%2054.pdf

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