Question: When was the program of National Pension Scheme (NPS) extended to the Non Resident Indians (NRIs)?
(a) October 2014
(b) December 2015
(c) October 2015
(d) December 2017
Answer: (c)
Related facts:
- Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has now permitted Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) to enroll in National Pension Scheme (NPS) at par with Non-Resident Indians vide Circular No: PFRDA/2019/19/PDES/3 dated 29th October 2019.
- The Government vide notification S.O. 3732(E) dated 17th October, 2019 on Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019 of Dept. of Economic Affairs, has specified that an OCI may subscribe to the National Pension System governed and administered by PFRDA.
- Now, any Indian citizen, resident or non-resident and OCIs are eligible to join NPS till the age of 65 years. The Non Resident Indians were allowed in the NPS in October 2015.
- Contributions made towards NPS are eligible for an additional tax deduction under section 80CCD(1B) upto Rs. 50,000 which is over and above the Rs 1,50,000 limit of deduction available under sec 80CCD(1).
About PFRDA:
- Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the statutory Authority established by an enactment of the Parliament, to regulate, promote and ensure orderly growth of the National Pension System (NPS) and pension schemes to which this Act applies.
- NPS was initially notified for central government employees joining service on or after 1st Jan 2004 and subsequently adopted by almost all State Governments for its employees.
- NPS was extended to all citizens of Indian on voluntary basis from May 2009 and to corporates in December 2011 and to Non-Resident Indians in October 2015.
- As on 26th October 2019, the total number of subscribers under NPS and Atal Pension Yojana has crossed 3.18 crores and the Asset under Management (AUM) has grown to Rs. 3,79,758 crores.
- More than 66 lakhs government employees have been enrolled under NPS and 19.2 lakhs subscribers have subscribed to NPS in the private sector with 6,812 entities registered as corporates.
Links:
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1589523