Audit->New Pension Scheme



 New Pension Scheme

Govt. of India, Ministry of Finance, Deptt. Of Expenditure vide their OM No.F.No.1)T)(2)/2003/TA/19 dt.14.1.2004 & 4.2.04 have introduced a New Defined Contribution Pension Scheme replacing the existing System of Defined benefit Pension System.  The New Pension Scheme comes into operation w.e.f. 1.1.2004 and is applicable to all new entrants to Central Govt. service except to Armed Forces joining Govt. service on or after 1.1.2004.

Features

  1. The New Pension Scheme will work on defined contribution basis and will have two tiers – Tier I and Tier II.
  2. Tier-I is mandatory for all Govt. servants joining Govt. service on or after 1.1.2004.  In Tier I, Govt. servants will have to make a contribution of 10% of his Basic Pay, DP and DA which will be deducted from his salary bill every month by the PAO concerned.  The Govt. will make an equal matching contribution. Tier I contribution will be kept in a non withdrawal Pension Tier I account.
  3. Tier II will be optional and at the discretion of Govt. servants.  Tier II contributions will be kept in a separate account that will be withdrawal at the option of Govt. servant.  The scheme of voluntary contribution under Tier II will not be made operative during the period of interim arrangement and therefore no recoveries will be made from the salaries of the employees on this account.
  4. The existing provisions of Defined Benefit Pension and GPF would not be available to new Govt. servants joining Govt. service on or after 1.1.2004.
  5. An independent Pension Fund Regulatory and Development and Authority (PFRDA) will regulate and develop the pension market.
  6. As an interim arrangement till such time the statutory PFRDA is set up and interim PFRDA has been appointed by issuing an executive order by Ministry of Finance(DEA).
  7. It has also been decided that Tier II will not be made operative during interim period.
  8. Till the regular Central Record Keeping agency and Pension Fund Managers all appointed and the accumulated balances under each individual are transferred to them, it has been decided that such amounts rep[resenting the contributions made by the Govt. servants will be kept in the Public Account of India .  This will be a temporary arrangements as announced by the Govt.
  9. A Govt. servant can exit at or after the age of 60 years from Tier I of the Scheme.  At exit, it would be mandatory for him to invest 40% of pension wealth to purchase an annuity (from an IRDA regulated Life Insurance Company), which will provide for pension for the life time of the employee and his dependent parents/ employee.  In case of Govt. servants who leave the scheme before attaining the age of 60, the mandatory annuitisation would be 80% of the pension wealth.
  10. Recoveries towards Tier I contribution will start from salary of the month following the month in which the Govt. servant has joined service.  Therefore, no recovery will be effected for the month of joining.
  11. No deductions will be made towards GPF contribution from the Govt. servants joining the service on or after 1.1.2004 as the GPF scheme is not applicable to them.
  12. It has been decided that pending formation of a regular Central Record Keeping Agency, Central Pension Accounting office(CPAO) will function as the Central Record Keeping Agency for the above scheme.



Procedure for allotment of Permanent Pension Account Number (PPAN)

  1. Immediately on joining Govt. service, the Govt. servant will be required to provide particulars such as his name, designation, scale of pay, date of birth, nominee(s) for the fund, relationship of the nominee etc. in the prescribed for (Annexure I).   The DDO concerned will be responsible for obtaining this information from all Govt. servants covered under the New Pension Scheme.
  2. The PAO concerned will allot a unique 16 digit Permanent Pension Account Number (PPAN).  The first four digits of this number will indicate the calendar year of joining Govt. service, the next digit indicates whether it is a Civil or a Non-civil Ministry, the next six digits would represent the PAO Code (which is used for the purpose of compiling monthly accounts), the last five digits will be the running serial number of the individual govt. servant which will be allotted by the PAO concerned.  PAO will allot the serial number pertaining to individual Govt. servants from 00001 running from January to December of a calendar year.  A register will be maintained for allotment of PPAN to ensure that PPAN are allotted in sequence and there is no duplication of PPAN.
  3. For the flow of information from Non Civil Ministries/Departments to the CPAO, each of them will nominate a Nodal Office, which will be responsible for forwarding the consolidated information/particulars in respect of their Ministry/Departments and for correspondence with CPAO.
  4. The particulars of the Govt. servants received from the various DDOs will be consolidated by the Nodal Office identified in each Ministry/Department/Office and sent to the CPAO.  The CPAO will keep this information in their computer database.
  5. The accounting heads involved in the operation of the new pension scheme will be intimated in due course.
  6. The first salary bill of the new entrant will be passed after ensuring that the Annexure-I is received. Tier1 amount equal to 10% of the (basic+dp+da+npa) will be deducted from the payBill and a matching contribution will also be credited to the individuals credit.
  7. Separate paybill should be prepared for the individuals who are covered under this scheme.
  8. The schedule information is to be captured in the Annexure-II, which should be carefully checked.
  9. The data file of annexure-I and annexure-II will be created and forwarded to CPAO on monthly basis.
  10. CPAO on receipt of this information will update its database and generate exception reports for missing credits, mismatches etc.
  11. No withdrawal of any amount will be allowed during the interim arrangements.
  12. At the end of each financial year the CPAO will prepare annual accounts statements for each employee showing opening balance, details of monthly deduction and Govt.’s matching contribution, interest earned, if any, and the closing balance.  CPAO will send these statements to Nodal Office concerned.
  13. After the close of each financial year, CPAO will have to report the details of the balances (PAO-wise) to each PAO for the purpose of reconciliation.   The PAO will reconcile the figures of contributions with figures as per the books of CPAO.
    

Audit / Accounting checks to be exercised for  New Pension Scheme

  1. Immediately on joining Govt. service, the Govt. servant will furnish particulars such as his name, designation, scale of pay, date of birth, nominee(s) for the fund, relationship of the nominee etc. in the prescribed form (Annexure I) for allotment of Permanent Pension Account Number.
  2. Separate Pay bills are required for new entrants who joined service on or after 1.1.2004.
  3. Recoveries/contributions payable by the Govt. servant under the Scheme (Tier I) will start from the salary of the month following the month in which the Govt. servant has joined service.  Therefore, no recovery shall be effected for the month of joining.
  4. Contribution by Govt. servant under Tier I is mandatory.
  5. Equal matching contribution will be made by Govt.
  6. Contribution by Govt. servant will be 10% of his basic pay, DP, DA& NPA which will be deducted from his salary bill every month.
  7.  Whenever there is any change in Basic Pay/DA/DP due to arrear of pay, DA revision, 10% of paid  emoluments are also to be recovered.
  8.  No deduction will be made towards GPF contribution from the Govt. servants joining service on or after 1.1.2004 as GPF scheme is not applicable to them.
  9.  Permanent Pension Account Number will be of 16 digits.
  10.  Recovery schedule as per designed format will accompany each pay bill indicating PPAN No., Basic Pay, DA, DP, Name, amount of contribution, month etc. apart from other information.
  11. Check the information contained therein in the schedule are correct as per recovery made in the bill.
  12. After carrying out necessary audit checks as are done in other pay bills the pay bill is passed for payment.
  13. The recovery made on account of individual contribution and equal matching Govt. contributions will be compiled to relevant code heads as under:-
         1. 00/016/02 – Individual Contribution
         2. 00/016/03 – Govt. matching Contribution

as Plus receipts with corresponding/respective charge head i.e. Service heads and New RDR heads.

  14.   Finally schedules are detached and sent to EDP for punching.


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