Eligibility

The National Pension System (NPS) was launched by the Central Government and came into effect on January 1, 2004 (excluding personnel from the armed forces).
All Central Government employees who joined service on or after January 1, 2004, are mandatorily enrolled under NPS. This pension scheme aims to provide long-term financial security and retirement benefits to government employees through a defined contribution model.

Enrolment & Registration

For Organizations
To initiate the NPS registration process for Central Government employees, the following offices must register with the Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA) by submitting the designated forms:

• Principal Accounts Office (PrAO) – Submit Form N1
• Pay & Accounts Office (PAO) / Cheque Drawing & Disbursing Office (CDDO) – Submit Form N2
• Drawing & Disbursing Office (DDO) or any other designated office – Submit Form N3

Choose your CRA to download the forms:

• NSDL CRA – Download NPS Forms
• KFin Technologies CRA – Download NPS Forms

For Subscribers
To enrol in the National Pension System (NPS), an individual subscriber must complete and submit a PRAN application using Form CSRF-1. The form should be submitted in duplicate along with the required documents to the Drawing & Disbursing Officer (DDO), who will forward it to the respective PAO/PrAO for further processing.
 

Contribution

Under the National Pension System (NPS) for Central Government employees, both the employee and the Government contribute towards the Tier I NPS account.
The monthly contribution rate is as follows:

• 10% of the employee’s salary and dearness allowance (DA) is contributed by the employee
• An equal 10% contribution is made by the Central Government

These contributions are invested in the NPS Tier I account linked to the subscriber’s Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN). The funds are managed by authorized Pension Fund Managers (PFMs) and invested according to the default NPS investment pattern for government employees.
 

Investment & Choices

For Central Government employees under Tier I of the National Pension System (NPS), there is a single default investment scheme in place.

Under this default scheme, the employee’s contributions are allocated among three Pension Fund Managers (PFMs):

• SBI Pension Funds Private Limited
• UTI Retirement Solutions Limited
• LIC Pension Fund Limited

These PFMs invest contributions in a predefined proportion across multiple asset classes. As per the revised investment guidelines effective from 10.06.2015, the asset allocation is as follows:

• Up to 50% in Government Securities and Related Investments
• Up to 45% in Debt Instruments and Related Investments
• Up to 5% in Short-term Debt Instruments and Related Investments
• Up to 15% in Equities and Related Investments
• Up to 5% in Asset-Backed, Trust-Structured, and Miscellaneous Investments

This structured investment pattern for NPS Tier I ensures a balanced approach to risk and returns while focusing on long-term retirement growth.