Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (
PFRDA), on May 27, issued a press release stating that it has allowed Aadhaar-based offline paperless KYC process for onboarding of new subscribers under the National Pension System (
NPS).
The process enables immediate activation of
NPS account due to instant KYC verification and also facilitates immediate
deposit of NPS contribution by the subscriber.
PFRDA, in its endeavor to facilitate ease of enrollment of subscribers, constantly enables various modes of NPS on boarding through various channels such as e-NPS and POPs (Points of Presence).
According to its press release, now PFRDA permits e-NPS/Points of Presence to use the offline Aadhaar of the prospective subscribers with their consent for opening NPS Accounts. The Aadhaar-based offline paperless KYC verification eliminates the need to provide physical copy of Aadhaar.
How the new process will work
As per this new process, an applicant can download the password-protected Aadhaar XML file in the offline mode by accessing Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) portal through eNPS and share the same for his KYC. The facility can also be availed for opening NPS accounts through Points of Presence (POP), which are offering this facility.
In this process, the KYC details are in machine-readable XML format, which is digitally signed by UIDAI, allowing eNPS/ POPs to verify the demographic contents of the file and certify the same to be authentic. The identity and address of the applicant can be verified in the process, as per the release.
Recently, the pension fund regulator introduced a new mode of payment for NPS subscribers called Direct Remittance (D-Remit). This mode of NPS contributions allows the subscriber to set up systematic investment through their net banking by which regular contributions can be made into the NPS
account periodically. The NPS contribution online payment in the D-Remit mode is free of cost as there is no charge in the transaction done.
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