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Last updated on May 17th, 2017 at 10:19 pm

National Pension System or National Pension Scheme provides suitable income to every Indian citizen after retirement. If you are young and planning for retirement scheme, then opening an NPS account in India is the best available option. You can open an NPS account either online or offline with banks like ICICI, SBI, and HDFC.

National Pension Scheme account Features

• National Pension Scheme saves you some money every month or year till you retire from your job.
• Under this scheme, your risk portfolio is created and your money is invested according to your age.
• If you are young, your money will be invested in equity shares to provide a higher return in long-run.
• On the other hand, if you are near to your retirement, more amount of your money moves to debt to make it secure.
• However, you can always switch funds as per your financial goals. NPS allows you to save income tax u/s 80C up to Rs 1.5 Lakhs and brings you an additional tax benefit of Rs 50,000 under section 80CCD (1B).

Open NPS Account Online or Offline

• Only an Indian citizen or NRI under 18 to 60 years of age can open an NPS account in India.
• Other mandataries include a bank account and Aadhar Card or Pan Card.
• Search the point of presence (PoP) nearest to you. There are around 63 PoPs in the country, including banks.
• Usually, banks subscribe you to NPS, ask you for KYC verification and receive NPS contribution from you.

NPS account in India Offline

Opening NPS account in India offline is not advisable but still, you can open it as below:

• Fill the registration form with your personal details, bank account number, asset allocation, and a pension fund you will like to choose and your account will be open.
• Submit your KYC documents and you will be subscribed to your NPS account. If you are opening one with the bank then KYC is not required.
• As soon your account is open, you will get a permanent retirement account number (PRAN), which is unique and portable.
• You can open an NPS account in India with a minimum amount of Rs 6,000 a year and a minimum contribution of Rs 500. There will also be a one-time subscription fee of Rs 125.
• You can access your account online with the unique password allotted to you.
• You will always be required to pay a fee of o.25% of the amount, applicable if the minimum amount is Rs 20 and maximum is Rs 25,000.

NPS account in India Online

To open an NPS account in India online, visit, www.npstrust.org.in and select e-NPS. Follow the below steps to create an NPS account online:

Step 1 – Register

Register through the registration button but don’t forget to read the instructions given on the left side of the page.

Step 2 – 

In this step, you have to select your preference in the NPS account, you should make your choice as required.

You get three options, new registration, complete pending application, and the printout of the completed application. If you are a new investor, you should select New Registration.

Now as you are opening an account as an individual, choose the individual subscriber option. If you are subscribing to an NPS account via your organization the choose the corporate subscriber.

You can also subscribe to NPS account even if you are an NRI.

You are now asked to choose the type of account, which can be either Type I or Type II or both. Tier II account facilitates you to invest more in the NPS account and can withdraw your money anytime. Tier I account is a compulsory account for long-term savings. You also get an exclusive Tax benefit of Rs 50,000 u/s 80CCD (1B) by investing in Tier I.

If you choose Aadhar Card as an authentication mode, you have to enter the Aadhar number. You can verify this number by sending a One-Time Password, sent to the registered mobile number.

Authentication through PAN requires the PAN card and name of the Bank. In this mode, the bank will do KYC in place of you using your PAN card. A maximum amount of Rs 125 will be debited from your account for authentication of this account. If you don’t have Aadhar card and don’t want to pay Rs 125 then go for opening an NPS account offline.

Step 3 – 

In the next step, you will be asked to give your personal details and in the window, you will notice your name, date of birth and address entered. This information cannot be edited as it’s taken from your Aadhar card.

Enter your father and mother name. Give your mobile number in which you want to receive OTP in future. Enter your email, PAN, and other details correctly.

You receive your acknowledgment slip after completing captcha. You must keep this slip as the acknowledgment number is used in future access of the application.

Step 4 – 

Enter your contact details, which will be fetched automatically from your Aadhar card. Now, give your bank details, to receive NPS maturity amount in future.

Choose the fund manager under nomination details. You can choose from the seven available fund managers. Just visit the NPS returns page for accessing the current performance of different managers available.

Next, you choose the mode of investment. There are two modes of investment, an auto mode, and an active investment mode. In auto mode, the equity allocation of your money will decrease with your increasing age. This will work automatically and you don’t require handling it manually. In the active investment mode, you need to fix an asset allocation as per your choice. 

You should mention each nominee separately in the form if you are choosing more than one.

Step 5 – 

Upload your photograph and signature, both should not be more than 16KB in size. Those authenticating using Aadhar card, your photograph will upload automatically. 

Step 6 –

Enter your contribution to Tier I and Tier II. The minimum amount for Tier I is Rs 500, and for Tier II its Rs 1000 respectively.

You get directed to the payment gateway.

The NPS uses SBI ePay gateway and there is a transaction charge as follows:

Net Banking- 60 paise
Debit Card- 0.80%
Credit Card- 0.90%
Service Charge- 14.5%

Once you make the payment, your Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) will become active. Do note it down as it’s important for future transaction and redemption.

You can now download the form and take a print of the downloaded form. Paste your photograph sign it and send it to the Central record keeping agency at below address:

Central Record Keeping Agency (eNPS)
NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited,
Times Tower, 1^st Floor,
Kamala Mills Compound,
Senapati Bapat Marg,
Lower Parel,
Mumbai – 400013

Are you planning to withdraw an amount from your NPS account? Don’t know how to withdraw your money from NPS? Well! you can check the rules for NPS withdrawal by clicking here.

You can read about the pros and cons of NPS over here,  and a comparison of NPS with other investment options over here.

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