Things to keep in mind while filling PRAN Application Form

NPS Subscribers should keep some important things in mind while filling PRAN Application Form. 

Since this application form is linked to your pension and that is why it becomes very important.

When you go to join a government office for the first time, you have to fill-up an PRAN Application Form for a PRAN card.

Although, this application form is related to a government employee Pension Scheme, but it is very rare that one who joins a government office for the first time, knows about NPS.

Still, if you have a little knowledge about it, then you will be careful while filling the PRAN Application Form for PRAN Card.

But if you do not know anything about NPS (New Pension Scheme) then firstly you should read all about NPS.

You can get all important information about NPS from official website. Also we will explain some important points about NPS in this article.

So, first of all we will explain here what is NPS and how it works.

PRAN Application Form – Click here to take PRAN Application Form.

Also read:

New Pension Scheme Investment by Government Employees

Important NPS Tax Benefits for Government Employees

What is NPS?

The full form of NPS is –  New Pension Scheme.

Clearly this is a pension scheme and It was launched by the Central Government in January 2004.

This Pension Scheme replaced OPS(Old Pension Scheme) and that’s why it is called New Pension Scheme.

Not only central government employees can adopt this pension scheme, but also any citizen of the country who is eligible for it can take advantage of this pension scheme.

PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority) is responsible to monitor the management system of this scheme.

PFRDA has given the responsibility of Central Record-keeping Agency (CRA) to NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited) .

That is, the job of CRA is to allot PRAN number to subscribers and then provide facilities to that Subscribers.

CRA provides many types of facilities online to all its NPS subscribers. Also, CRA maintains all the data related to subscribers’ PRAN and also keeps record of all their transactions.

We will give more information related to NPS in another article. Here we are going to give information about what precautions the subscribers should take while filling the PRAN Application Form.  

Subscribers should keep these things in mind while filling PRAN Application Form:

It has already been mentioned that whenever you go to join a government office for the first time, you are asked to fill up a PRAN Application Form for PRAN.

The full form of PRAN is – Permanent Retirement Account Number. Through this number, you can get information about all the details of your NPS.

Before the day you are going to join office, take print this PRAN Application Form. You can take it from the official website of NSDL.

On homepage of this website there is a NPS Lite sub-menu. On clicking this sub-menu, a web page will open. On the left side of this web page, there is a menu called Form. Click this option and take the PRAN Application Form.

Here you have to click on subscriber registration. On clicking it, all the forms related to subscriber registration will be visible. 

From here you have to take Form CSRF : Subscriber Registration Form. This is the subscriber application form you have to fill-up for PRAN Card.

After taking print of this PRAN Application Form read all details carefully.

There are two most important points in this form. The first is – Subscriber Nomination Details and the second is – Pension Fund Selection and Investment Option.

Now let us discuss about these two points.

Subscriber Nomination Details:

If you are going for a job for the first time, it is very unlikely that you might have made someone a Nominee somewhere.

Because apart from opening a bank account in student life, you would hardly have opened any saving account like mutual fund, LIC etc.

Here let us tell you that Nominee is the person who is entitled to the amount deposited by a subscriber in NPS. This happens when the subscriber dies due to some reason and the amount deposited by him in NPS is still pending.

After the death of the subscriber, Nominee gets the amount deposited by him. 

So, as you can see how important it is to make someone a nominee while filling the NPS subscriber form. That’s why you have to be more careful about Nominee here.

Before giving the nomination details, think carefully or take advice from an experienced member of the house.

By the way, you can also make changes in Nominee Details later. For this, CRA provides you online facility.

You can make one or more people a Nominee.

When your nominee is only one person, then he will get the entire amount deposited in NPS. But if you have made more than one person as a Nominee, then they will get the amount in the same percentage which you have mentioned in the PRAN Application Form.

Pension Fund Selection and Investment Option:

This is also very important like the first point.

As you know that under NPS, some part of your monthly salary is deducted by the employer and its equivalent or more contribution is given by the government.

By combining these two amounts, the government invests in various schemes. The returns that come on this invested amount are available in the form of pension.

Now you must have understood how important this part of this PRAN Application Form is.

If you look at this part carefully, you will find that some fund managers have been provided by the government to invest your amount.

You can choose from these fund managers who will manage your money and invest in the market.

Since here we are giving this information related to NPS for a Government Employee, it is important to note that if you have not selected any of these Fund Managers, then by default your amount will be divided into the following three Pension Funds-
(i) LIC Pension Fund Limited (ii) SBI Pension Funds Pvt. Limited (iii) UTI Retirement Solutions Ltd.

These are the three fund managers who manage the NPS contribution of a government employee and invest in the market.

Therefore, take a thorough knowledge of all these Fund Managers and then choose them.

Although their performance is almost the same, yet definitely keep information about the performance done by them within 6 months to a year. Choose the fund manager which suits you.

You also get a chance to make changes in your choice. You can change your fund manager once in any one financial year (from March to April of next year).

In this way, while filling the PRAN Application Form, keep in mind that which Fund Manager you have to choose to manage your NPS contribution.

Conclusion:

For any Government Employee who is filling the application form for NPS for the first time, it is a very difficult task for him.

Especially he remains most confused about the above mentioned two points, Subscriber Nomination Details and Pension Fund Selection and Investment Option.

Therefore, if you are joining a government office for the first time, then do not fill the NPS application form immediately.

Take at least two-three days and read all details given in application form carefully. When everything is well understood, then fill this application form and submit it.

Well, there is a chance to make some changes in the future. The biggest thing is that now CRA has made most of the services online. You can make changes by visiting the website of NSDL.

FAQs

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New Pension Scheme for Central Government Employees Important NPS Tax Benefits for Government Employees NPS Structure for Government Employees Partial Withdrawal and Exit from New Pension Scheme