Atal Pension Yojana: Now open APY account without accessing net banking

For those having a bank account but not using the net banking facility, opening an Atal Pension Yojana (APY) account will soon become easier. In order to ease the on-boarding process for APY subscribers, APY-POPs are being permitted by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) to introduce an alternate channel for online on-boarding of their existing savings account holders. Under the new channel, one can open an APY account without using the net banking or mobile app.

At present some banks are providing online APY account opening through net banking or mobile app. However, a large number of bank account holders who are eligible and can be enrolled under APY are not using net banking or mobile app facility. In such cases, these bank account holders are not able to open an APY account through online or digital mode.

A mechanism for online paperless on boarding of APY subscribers using the web portal of banks has been introduced by PFRDA.

The bank account holder will have to visit the bank's portal providing the APY on-boarding facility and initiate the registration process by providing customer ID or saving bank account number (any two) or PAN or Aadhaar. To complete registration, OTP based authentication will be done.

On completing the registration, access to the web-form will be provided in which some data will be auto-populated. The subscriber can then enter the other data such as pension amount, frequency of auto-debit, nomination etc. The consent for standing instructions and APY enrollment form submission to the bank is to be done digitally through OTP authentication or using e-sign. In case, one is not able to do e-sign or provide OTP, the subscriber can wet sign the form subsequently and submit the same to his bank-branch.

This new move will help those bank account holders who do not use net banking yet want to invest in APY for their retirement needs.