New Delhi, Jan 1 (IANS) The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority’s (PFRDA) board has approved a framework to permit Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) to independently set up Pension Funds to manage NPS, with the objective of strengthening the pension ecosystem, it was announced on Thursday.

This will enhance competition and safeguard subscriber’s interests.

The proposed framework seeks to address existing regulatory constraints that had limited bank participation till now, said Ministry of Finance in a statement.

By introducing a clearly defined eligibility criteria based on net worth, market capitalisation and prudential soundness in line with RBI norms, it will ensure that only well-capitalised and systemically robust banks are permitted to sponsor Pension Funds.

“The detailed criteria will be notified separately and will apply to both new and existing Pension Funds,” the statement said.

PFRDA has appointed three new Trustees on the Board of NPS Trust, pursuant to the selection process initiated by PFRDA.

These are Dinesh Kumar Khara, Former Chairman, State Bank of India; Swati Anil Kulkarni, Former Executive Vice President, UTI AMC–Trustee; and Dr. Arvind Gupta, Co-Founder and Head, Digital India Foundation and Member of the National Venture Capital Investment Committee under the Fund of Funds Scheme managed by SIDBI.

Khara has also been designated as the Chairperson of the NPS Trust Board.

In order to align with evolving realities, aspirations of the public, international benchmarks and the objective of expanding coverage across corporate, retail and gig-economy segments, PFRDA has revised the Investment Management Fee (IMF) structure for Pension Funds to safeguard subscriber interests with effect from April 1, 2026.

The revised slab-based IMF introduces differentiated rates for government and non-government sector subscribers which shall also apply to schemes under the Multiple Scheme Framework (MSF), with MSF corpus being counted separately.

PFRDA expects these policy reforms to help the subscribers and stakeholders to access a more competitive, well-governed and resilient NPS ecosystem, leading to improved long-term retirement outcomes and enhanced old-age income security.

–IANS

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