- Atal Pension Yojana (APY) crossed 7.65 crore subscribers as of April 2025
- The entire corpus of pension fund under the scheme has grown to ₹45,974.67 crore
- APY is India's first flagship pension saving scheme for the unorganized sector
As of April 2025, the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) crossed 7.65 crore subscribers with cumulative contributions worth ₹45,974.67 crore, according to an official government release. Funded on 9 May 2015 and rolled out from 1 June of the same year, APY is the prime pension scheme of India for unorganised sector workers.
It promotes voluntary savings in old age through assurance of a monthly pension of ₹1,000 to ₹5,000, payable at the age of 60. The amount of the pension varies based on the age of the subscriber when joining and the contribution made each month. A minimum of 20 years of contribution is needed.
The plan is available to Indian citizens between the ages of 18 and 40. It was initially intended to benefit lower-income, non-taxpayers, particularly those not receiving formal retirement benefits such as EPF. From October 1, 2022, income taxpayers are no longer eligible to opt for the scheme.
Women have been instrumental in the recent success of APY. In the financial year 2024–25, more than 55 percent of new subscriptions were by women, resulting in a steep increase in total enrolments. The APY has well-defined rules for payment defaults. If there is no sufficient balance in the subscriber account by the due date, it is considered a missed payment.
A minuscule penalty of ₹1 for every ₹100 delayed by a month is levied, and the lapsed amount can later be recovered. Penalties are credited to the pension corpus. The account may be closed and the government's contribution refunded if the subscriber's contribution corpus dips to zero (not counting the government's contribution) due to missed payments and charges.
Once the subscriber attains the age of 60, the monthly pension is started. In case the subscriber dies, the same pension goes to the spouse for a lifetime. Following the death of the subscriber and spouse, the corpus built-up at the age of 60—about ₹1.7 lakh—is transferred to the nominee enrolled at the time of joining.
The government initially contributed 50 percent of the subscriber's payment (up to ₹1,000 a year) for five years to encourage early adoption, but only for those who enrolled between June 2015 and March 2016 and were not income taxpayers or members of other social security schemes. APY remains a sure retirement scheme for employees in the informal sector and rural communities, which ensures increased long-term savings and financial security during retirement.
