The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has issued a comprehensive clarification regarding the charge structure of Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs) under the National Pension System (NPS) and Atal Pension Yojana (APY). According to the latest circular dated April 29, 2026, this clarification does not introduce a new framework but explains and refines existing rules related to annual maintenance charges, dormant accounts, Tier I and Tier II accounts, and other fee structures applicable to subscribers. The circular aligns Annual Maintenance Charges (AMC) for Tier II accounts with Tier I accounts while exempting accounts with corpus up to ₹21,000 from AMC.
For Tier II accounts, the Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC) will be aligned with the AMC applicable to Tier I accounts under the respective sector (Government/Private). As reported in the latest circular, no AMC will be levied where the Tier II account balance is up to ₹1,000 at the end of a quarter. Each pension scheme under a PRAN will be treated as a separate account for both Tier I and Tier II, with AMC applied separately to each account. For determining applicable AMC, the corpus available in the account as at the end of the quarter shall be considered.
For dormant accounts, AMC will be charged at 10% of the applicable AMC for that account (Tier I/Tier II). According to the latest clarification, a dormant account is where no contribution is made for four consecutive quarters and will be marked as dormant in the first week of the subsequent quarter in the CRA system. The reduced AMC of ₹1,000 will apply from that quarter onward and will continue until the account becomes active again, with CRAs required to implement identification and tagging of dormant and active accounts from 1 July 2026. Upon receipt of contribution during a quarter, the account shall be flagged as 'active' during the first week of the subsequent quarter.
The PRAN Opening Charge shall apply only at the time of initial PRAN generation, while for activation and opening of each account, Tier I, Tier II, within an existing PRAN, the charge shall be NIL. As reported in the latest circular, AMC for accounts with NIL balance under APY NPS Lite shall be NIL. For determining applicable AMC, the corpus available in the account as at the end of the quarter shall be considered.
The applicable charges shall be collected by CRAs at the end of each quarter by way of an invoice raised on the concerned entity in respect of accounts where the employer bears CRA charges or through unit deduction from the subscriber's account as applicable. According to the latest circular, all other stipulations as contained in the referred Circular dated 15 September 2025 shall remain in full force and effect. The revised framework is aimed at rationalising CRA charges under NPS while introducing clarity on dormant accounts, Tier II charges, and zero balance accounts, with changes coming into effect from 1 July 2026.
