Centre notifies Unified Pension Scheme guidelines

The Centre has notified guidelines for regulating service issues regarding advantages beneath the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) in respect of its staff, an official assertion issued on Thursday stated. The Central Civil Providers (Implementation of the Unified Pension Scheme beneath the Nationwide Pension System) Guidelines, 2025 will cowl “enrolment beneath Unified Pension Scheme and change facility from UPS to NPS one 12 months earlier than the date of retirement or three months earlier than the VRS”, amongst others.
These guidelines are for regulating the service issues regarding advantages beneath the Unified Pension Scheme in respect of central authorities staff choosing UPS as an possibility beneath the NPS, stated the assertion issued by the Personnel Ministry.
The foundations additionally cowl contributions by the worker and the federal government, compensation to be paid to the federal government servant in case of delay in registration and credit score of contributions to the NPS account and possibility for advantages beneath the CCS (Pension) Guidelines or UPS rules within the occasion of loss of life or incapacity of presidency servant throughout service, it stated.

Advantages payable on retirement on superannuation, untimely retirement, voluntary retirement, absorption in autonomous physique or public sector enterprise, retirement on invalidation and resignation from service and “impact of obligatory retirement /dismissal/removing from service” amongst others are additionally coated beneath the newly notified guidelines.

Nationwide president of All India NPS Workers Federation, Manjeet Singh Patel, welcomed the notification and stated that the supply of retirement after completion of 20 years common providers instead of 25 years, shall be undoubtedly a historic milestone within the staff' welfare. “It was a much-needed modification in UPS for the reason that operationalisation of the brand new scheme,” he stated. The Union Cupboard had on August 24 final 12 months authorized introduction of the UPS.

Accordingly, the Division of Monetary Providers had notified the UPS on January 24 this 12 months as an possibility/ scheme beneath the NPS.

Efficient date of operationalisation of the UPS is April 1, 2025.

Thereafter, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Growth Authority notified the PFRDA (Operationalisation of Unified Pension Scheme beneath Nationwide Pension System) Rules, 2025 on March 19, 2025.

Central authorities staff coated beneath the NPS have been given one-time possibility for inclusion beneath the UPS.