UPS rules clarified: What happens to pension contributions during employee’s probation, suspension and absence from duty

Central government employees covered under the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) must follow specific rules on pension contributions during probation, suspension, deputation and periods of absence from duty.

In a chain of Office Memorandums (OM) dated October 27, 2026, the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare has clarified these provisions under the Central Civil Services (Implementation of Unified Pension Scheme under the National Pension System) Rules, 2025.

Here is what UPS subscribers should know about these provisions

UPS contributions are mandatory during probation

Employees covered under UPS must contribute to the scheme during their probation period, says the OM

Rule 6 (6) provides that the subscriber will contribute to the Unified Pension Scheme during the period of probation. This means that being on probation does not exempt an employee from making UPS contributions.

What happens to UPS contributions during suspension?

The rules distinguish between the employee’s contribution and the government’s contribution during suspension.

Under Rule 6(2), a subscriber may choose whether to contribute to UPS during the suspension period. It means that it is optional for an employee to contribute to the UPS during suspension.

However, the government clarified that as per Rule 7 (3), in the case of a subscriber under suspension, the government should make contributions to the employee’s UPS corpus.

The government also clarified that it will not make any contribution to the employee’s UPS corpus during suspension if the employee has chosen not to contribute during that period.

If the suspension period is later treated as duty or as leave with leave salary, the government’s contribution will be recalculated based on the emoluments the employee becomes entitled to.

Any shortfall in the government’s contribution will be credited to the employee’s individual corpus using the applicable NAV and corresponding units.

Such contribution from the government’s side will be on the basis of the emoluments determined by taking into account the subsistence allowance paid to the employee during the suspension period.

If the government subsequently treats the suspension period as duty or as leave for which leave salary is payable, the contributions will be recalculated based on the emoluments the employee becomes entitled to for that period, says the OM.

Any difference between the contribution due and the amount already deposited will be credited to the employee’s individual corpus. The adjustment will be calculated using the applicable net asset value (NAV) and corresponding units on the last working day of the month in which the adjustment is made.

No UPS contributions during certain periods of absence from duty

Employees will not have to make UPS contributions for a period of absence from duty, whether on leave or otherwise, if they are not entitled to pay or leave salary for that period.

Rule 6(3) covers the employee’s contribution, while Rule 7(2) provides that the government will not contribute for a period during which the employee is not required to contribute under the rules, subject to the conditions specified in Rule 7(1).

Therefore, the treatment of UPS contributions during an absence depends on whether the employee is entitled to pay or leave salary and whether the rules require contributions for that period.

Delayed UPS contributions

Rule 8(1) provides for restoring UPS investment units that would have been credited to an employee’s individual corpus if contributions had been deposited on time, where the delay is due to factors not attributable to the subscriber.

The provision covers delays in three situations:

Deputation in Unified Pension Scheme

Under Rule 27 of the Central Civil Services (Implementation of Unified Pension Scheme under the National Pension System) Rules, 2025, the authority responsible for authorising UPS retirement benefits depends on where the employee is serving on deputation at the time of retirement.

If the employee retires while on deputation to another central government department, the head of office of the borrowing department will process the benefits.

For employees retiring while on deputation to a state government or on foreign service, the responsibility lies with the head of office or cadre authority that sanctioned the deputation.