The feedback received from various quarters has indicated that the present provision under Atal Pension Yojana (APY) of handing-over lump sum amount to spouse on premature death of the subscriber is not preferred by many subscribers, the govt said.

The govt has also highlighted the fact that there is growing demand to give an option to the spouse to continue contribution after the death of subscriber to enable him / her to draw pension when the deceased subscriber would have turned 60 years of age.

Therefore, after considering the feedback, the Government has decided to give an option to the spouse of the subscriber to continue contributing to APY account of the subscriber, for the remaining vesting period, till the original subscriber would have attained the age of 60 years instead of present provision of handing-over lump-sum amount to spouse on the premature death (death before 60 years of age) of the subscriber.

The spouse of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the same pension amount as that of the subscriber until the death of the spouse.

After the death of both the subscriber and the spouse, the nominee of the subscriber shall be entitled to receive the pension wealth, as accumulated till age of 60 years of the subscriber.

Earlier to address the longevity risks among the workers in unorganised sector and to encourage the workers in unorganised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement, the Government had launched a new initiative called Atal Pension Yojana (APY) with effect from 1st June, 2015.

Under APY, each subscriber, on completion of 60 years of age, will get the guaranteed minimum monthly pension, or higher monthly pension, if the investment returns are higher than the assumed returns for minimum guaranteed pension, over the period of contribution.

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