Implementation of Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority Act major task: FM P Chidambaram

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said the implementation of the Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) Act, 2013 in letter and spirit is a major task before the government.

“With the PFRDA Bill having been passed by Parliament, the major task before us was to implement it in letter and spirit,” he said at the fourth meeting of the consultative committee attached to his ministry, on Tuesday.

The PFRDA Act would give statutory status to the pensions sector regulator, and in addition to other objectives, aims to address apprehensions regarding safety and yield under the National Pension System ( NPS).

The FM said most countries are moving from a “defined benefit” pension system to a“defined contribution” system to enable pension-related commitments to be sustainably discharged. He said the salient provisions of the Act related to subscriber interest include choice of pension fund manager and investment schemes by the subscriber, availability of minimum assured return schemes to be notified by the PFRDA and the option of investment only in government securities.

The minister replied to various suggestions and queries of members and explained how the Act and efforts by the government since 2003-04 had tried to address these concerns.