In a bid to increase the coverage of Atal Pension Yojna (APY) among low pension groups, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has asked banks to employ their correspondents.
Banks’ business correspondents (‘Bank Mitrs’) who enroll themselves under APY can open an account in any bank branch with zero balance. However, if the account-holder wishes to avail the cheque book facility, he or she needs to fulfill the minimum balance criteria.
“However, the country’s eligible population which is in the age group of 18-40 years is more than 46 crore, hence, banks which are the critical links of the scheme should actively employ banking correspondents (BCs) for reaching wider and unorganised low-income people,” PFRDA said in a statement.
There are over 1.70 lakh BCs operating in the country with different banks, but very few of them are actively associated with APY.
PFRDA further said that banks are sharing part of the promotional incentive provided by the government with BCs and hence these bank Mitrs can build a sustainable revenue model by sourcing APY.
For activating the business correspondents channel, PFRDA in association with the country’s largest bank State Bank of India, recently held a workshop in Gurugram, Haryana.
APY was launched by the Government of India 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.
It is one of the vital component of Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) .It has a subscriber base of 37 lakh.
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