How to Apply for an NPS Account Online and Offline?

The National Pension Plan allows Indian citizens the option to invest in a long-term savings plan for their retirement by investing in the regulated markets. The best thing about NPS is that it can be availed by any citizen of India including NRIs and OCIs between the age of 18 to 70 years.

Interestingly, NPS has received wide acceptance by citizens across government and non-government sectors who are contributing crores of rupees to the scheme. Let’s discuss some details of the plan here.

What is National Pension Plan?

NPS or National Pension Scheme is an easy to access scheme that is affordable and tax-efficient at the same time. The pension plan is introduced for people as a retirement saving scheme to benefit them in their old age. Salaried individuals can contribute to NPS to secure their retirement, while a co-contribution comes from their employer.

The NPS account functions on the basis of defined contribution where account holders contribute to their accounts. However, no defined benefits are estimated in advance which the subscriber will receive at the time of plan exit. The corpus that is accumulated depends on the contributions made and income gained from the scheme. Depending on your contribution amount you receive the benefits. The more the contribution the better the wealth.

National Pension Plan Objectives

• With NPS, Indian citizens can meet their post-retirement needs to live a comfortable life
• Financial planning with NPS would support wealth creation for retirement
• The NPS plan allow systemised savings planned during the working years of individuals to save for their future or old age
• The NPS scheme was introduced by Indian government to address the financial concerns of senior citizens in the country

National Pension Plan Eligibility

Unlike other pension schemes, NPS allow Indian citizens including NRIs to subscribe to the scheme. As far as the entry age is concerned, 18 to 60 years is the duration during which you can join an NPS scheme.

How to Apply for NPS Scheme/Account?

Online Process

You can apply for an NPS account through the online platform of eNPS.  Here are the steps to register for this scheme:

• Visit the eNPS portal
• Select the subscriber type – Individual or Corporate Subscriber
• Select residential status – such as Indian Citizen or NRI
• Choose either tier I NPS account or both tier I and tier II accounts for long-term savings (tier II account is mandatory)
• Submit PAN information and bank details or PoP details
• Also submit the scanned copy of your PAN Card together with a copy of cancelled cheque
• Now, upload scanned signature and photograph
• Finally, make the payment through net banking
• Once the payment is done, you will get your PRAN (permanent retirement account number).

Offline Process 

For the offline process of opening an NPS account, the interested individuals need to find a PoP (Point of Presence) such as a bank. The individual has to collect a subscriber form from the nearest PoP and submit your KYC documents together.

Now, pay your initial contribution of INR 500, your PRAN number will be issued. You can pay INR 250 per month or INR 1,000 per year as a minimum contribution.

You will receive a sealed welcome package with your account number and password with which you can manage your account. You may have to pay a one-time registration fee of INR 125 for this method.

Process to Log in to the NPS Account

• To login to NPS, you need a 12-digit PRAN number
• To get PRAN, the subscriber has to submit the required papers at the NSDL website
• Now, visit the link https://enps.kfintech.com/login/login/ to use the login page of eNPS
• If you forget password, you can get it by accessing the ‘Generate/Reset Password’ tab
• Now, submit the PRAN number and your DOB (date of birth). Generate OTP and fill the captcha before clicking on the ‘Submit’ button
• You will receive an OTP in your registered mobile.  Enter the OTP to make your password valid
• Now, on the login screen, enter your password and PRAN details to Login to the page
• You will be redirected to the account page and can access it with ease.