NPS Charges: ₹20,000 a year on ₹1 crore corpus; What subscribers should know before investing through PoP

If you plan to start investing in the National Pension System (NPS), investment returns aren't the only thing you should consider. The route you use to open the account can also affect your long-term cost.

From October 1, 2026, the standardised Point of Presence (PoP) charge structure has made the distinction between direct e-NPS onboarding and PoP-based onboarding particularly relevant for new subscribers.

A PoP can offer assisted service, but subscribers using the PoP route pay an annual charge linked to their NPS corpus.


So, should you open your NPS account through e-NPS or a PoP? And if you already have an NPS account through a PoP, can you switch to e-NPS or D-Remit to avoid the charge?

What is the NPS PoP charge?

A Point of Presence, or PoP, is an intermediary through which an NPS subscriber can open and service an account. PoPs can provide services such as onboarding and transaction support.

“From 1 October 2026, the applicable annual PoP rate remains 0.20% of the corpus, plus taxes, for existing subscribers in the earlier common NPS schemes, NPS Lite and NPS Vatsalya,” according to Pranay Ranjan Dwivedi, MD & CEO, SBI Pension Funds.

For a new account opened through a PoP, there is also a one-time onboarding charge of ₹200, collected in four quarterly instalments of ₹50.

Eligible fully digital, non-face-to-face PoP onboarding may attract a reduced ₹100 onboarding fee, subject to the applicable PFRDA framework, says Dwivedi.

The important point is that the 0.20% is not the entire cost of NPS. Other costs such as pension fund management charges, recordkeeping, NPS Trust and custodian charges and applicable taxes may also apply.

This is why investors should look at the overall charge structure rather than treating 0.20% as the total cost of NPS.

What does 0.20% mean in actual rupees?

Consider an NPS corpus of:

NPS corpus*	0.20% annual PoP charge
₹5 lakh	₹1,000
₹25 lakh	₹5,000
₹50 lakh	₹10,000
₹1 crore	₹20,000

Source: Pensionbazaar

*Illustration before applicable taxes and other charges.

“The absolute rupee impact increases as the corpus grows because the charge is linked to AUM. For a ₹5 lakh corpus, 0.20% translates to around ₹1,000 a year, while at ₹1 crore it becomes ₹20,000 a year,” says Vishwajeet Goel, CEO, Pensionbazaar.

The charge therefore becomes more relevant for someone building a large retirement corpus over several decades.

₹10,000 monthly NPS contribution: How the cost can grow over 30 years

Suppose a subscriber invests ₹10,000 every month, or ₹1.20 lakh a year, and earns an illustrative 10% annual return.

The estimated corpus and corresponding 0.20% charge would look like this:

Year	Contribution made so far	Illustrative Corpus*	0.20% Annual PoP Charge
1	₹1.2 lakh	₹1.3 lakh	₹260
10	₹12 lakh	₹20.1 lakh	₹4020
20	₹24 lakh	₹72.4 lakh	₹14,480
30	₹36 lakh	₹2.1 crore	₹42,000

Source: Pensionbazaar

*Illustrative calculation assuming ₹10,000 monthly contribution, 10% annualised return and continued contributions. Actual NPS returns are market-linked and will vary.

The ₹42,000 figure in year 30 is particularly important. It does not mean the investor has suddenly been charged ₹42,000 lakh as a separate bill. The annual PoP charge is linked to the corpus and reflected through the NPS structure/NAV.

Already have NPS through a PoP: Can you switch to e-NPS?

Simply making your future NPS contributions through e-NPS or D-Remit does not remove the PoP charge if your NPS account was originally opened through a PoP.

Subscribers should first check how their PRAN (Permanent Retirement Account Number) was opened.

“Subscribers who joined through a PoP continue to pay applicable PoP charges even when subsequent contributions are made through e-NPS or D-Remit, the direct bank transfer facility,” says Dwivedi.

In other words, online contribution does not automatically convert a PoP account into a direct e-NPS account.

Goel says an existing subscriber can explore the change-of-PoP facility, subject to the applicable process and availability of the target PoP.

“However, changing the PoP should not be presented as a guaranteed way to eliminate the 0.20% charge, since the applicable charges depend on the prevailing PFRDA framework and the subscriber's PoP arrangement,” he adds.

For someone who has not yet opened an NPS account, therefore, the choice of onboarding route is more straightforward: compare the convenience of a PoP against the potentially lower-cost direct e-NPS route.

Does D-Remit make NPS cheaper?

D-Remit is essentially a direct bank-transfer facility for contributing to NPS. It can make contributions convenient, but it does not by itself eliminate PoP charges.

If your PRAN was opened through a PoP, switching your contribution method to D-Remit does not mean that the annual PoP charge disappears.

On the other hand, Dwivedi says subscribers who open their account directly through e-NPS and continue contributing through e-NPS or D-Remit do not pay PoP charges.

The following distinction should be kept in mind:

• Direct e-NPS onboarding + e-NPS/D-Remit contributions: no PoP charge.
• PoP onboarding + D-Remit/e-NPS contributions: applicable PoP charge continues.

How are NPS charges actually deducted?

A common misconception is that the PoP charge will necessarily appear as a separate debit from your bank account.

“The annual PoP fee is reflected in the value of each unit, or NAV, rather than necessarily appearing as a separate transaction debit. The one-time onboarding fee is recovered by cancelling units. GST and other applicable taxes are additional,” explains Dwivedi.

This makes it important to check the applicable charge schedule rather than judging the cost only by looking at bank-account transactions.

What should an existing NPS subscriber check now?

If you already have an NPS account, check how your PRAN was opened before assuming that making your next contribution online will reduce charges.

Then check the current charge schedule applicable to your account and PoP.

It is also useful to distinguish between:

• PoP charges
• pension fund management charges
• recordkeeping charges
• NPS Trust and custodian charges
• applicable GST and other taxes
• any fixed charges applicable to the account

Dwivedi says that for schemes outside special-purpose categories, the combined PoP and fund-management charges listed by PFRDA can be around 0.24%–0.32% a year for PoP subscribers, depending on the pension fund, with recordkeeping, NPS Trust, custodian charges and applicable taxes being additional.

This means looking only at the 0.20% PoP charge does not give you the complete picture of NPS costs.