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Informist, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2026

 

MUMBAI – The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority launched the 'NPS Tatkal' portal, which will help onboard new subscribers for the National Pension System through Unified Payment Interfaces, starting with National Payments Corp. of India's BHIM UPI application. So far, five banks have joined the plan--State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, and IDFC FIRST Bank, PFRDA Chief Technology Officer Paramendra Tiwary said Wednesday at the Global Fintech Festival 2026. 

 

Informist had reported in July that the pension regulator was working with NPCI to develop the interface that will help onboard subscribers through the digital payment ecosystem. The pension regulator is hopeful that this digital initiative will be operational by the end of 2026-27 (Apr-Mar), a PFRDA official had said.

 

According to Tiwary, with 'Tatkal NPS', onboarding is quick, simple and digital. A user will have to first enter their date of birth, followed by selecting the bank account, and finally making the contribution, he explained.

 

Prior to this, one could not directly enrol or open a new National Pension System account through the BHIM UPI application but could make subsequent contributions through it. To formally join the NPS, subscribers had to first register online or offline to get their Permanent Retirement Account Number. With this unique account number, or registered mobile number, subsequent investments under NPS can be directly made through the BHIM app. 

 

The government introduced the defined-contribution National Pension System on Jan. 1, 2004, replacing the defined-benefit old pension scheme. The NPS is a market-linked annuity scheme under which individuals contribute regularly during employment and receive a pension linked to the fund performance upon retirement. It is mandatory for central government employees, while others may join voluntarily.

 

PFRDA's initiative comes as pension coverage in India continues to be inadequate. India's pension system has expanded steadily, but overall coverage remains modest relative to the size of the workforce, the Economic Survey for FY26 had said. As of Jun. 30, NPS had 22.40 million subscribers with assets under management worth INR 17.27 trillion.  End

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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