Centre notifies Unified Pension Scheme rules

The Centre has notified rules for regulating service matters relating to benefits under the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) in respect of its employees, an official statement issued on Thursday said.

The Central Civil Services (Implementation of the Unified Pension Scheme under the National Pension System) Rules, 2025 will cover "enrolment under Unified Pension Scheme and switch facility from UPS to NPS one year before the date of retirement or three months before the VRS", among others.

These rules are for regulating the service matters relating to benefits under the Unified Pension Scheme in respect of central government employees opting for UPS as an option under the NPS, said the statement issued by the Personnel Ministry.


The rules also cover contributions by the employee and the government, compensation to be paid to the government servant in case of delay in registration and credit of contributions to the NPS account and option for benefits under the CCS (Pension) Rules or UPS regulations in the event of death or disability of government servant during service, it said.

Benefits payable on retirement on superannuation, premature retirement, voluntary retirement, absorption in autonomous body or public sector undertaking, retirement on invalidation and resignation from service and "effect of compulsory retirement /dismissal/removal from service" among others are also covered under the newly notified rules.

National president of All India NPS Employees Federation, Manjeet Singh Patel, welcomed the notification and said that the provision of retirement after completion of 20 years regular services in place of 25 years, will be undoubtedly a historic milestone in the employees' welfare.

"It was a much-needed amendment in UPS since the operationalisation of the new scheme," he said.

The Union Cabinet had on August 24 last year approved introduction of the UPS.

Accordingly, the Department of Financial Services had notified the UPS on January 24 this year as an option/ scheme under the NPS.

Effective date of operationalisation of the UPS is April 1, 2025.

Thereafter, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority notified the PFRDA (Operationalisation of Unified Pension Scheme under National Pension System) Regulations, 2025 on March 19, 2025.

Central government employees covered under the NPS have been given one-time option for inclusion under the UPS.