Reclassification of existing Corporates under NPS into Government Entities and Legal Entities (other than Government): PFRDA order dated 10.03.2026

Reclassification of existing Corporates under NPS into Government Entities and Legal Entities (other than Government): PFRDA order dated 10.03.2026

Circular No.: PFRDA/2026/18/REG-POP/03

Date: 10 March 2026

To

All Central Record Keeping Agencies (CRA/s), Trustee Bank (TB), Government Entities and other Stakeholders under NPS.

Subject: Reclassification of existing Corporates under NPS into Government Entities and Legal Entities (other than Government)

National Pension System (NPS), regulated under the provisions of the PFRDA Act, 2013 and the regulations framed thereunder, has been mandatorily implemented for all Central Government employees (except the Armed Forces) who have joined service on or after 1 January 2004. Most State Governments and Union Territories have also adopted NPS for their employees. Further, NPS has been extended to all citizens on a voluntary basis, including employees under the Corporate Sector, with effect from 1st May 2009.

2. It has been decided that henceforth, the existing “Corporates” under NPS are proposed to be reclassified into: (i) Legal Entities (other than Government), and (ii) Government Entities. For this purpose, a “Government Entity” shall include statutory body or a Government Company or any Body Corporate or any other entity under the ownership and control of either Central or any State Government (including Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and State Public Sector Enterprises (SPSEs).

3. In view of the above, organisations which were hitherto associated with PFRDA under the Corporate Sector model, but which operate as an extended arm of the Government, shall henceforth be categorized under the Government Sector model of NPS, and accordingly be tagged as “Government Entities” with the respective Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs). Such Government Entities shall be aligned with the Government Sector model under the NPS architecture, similar to Central and State Government entities and their autonomous bodies. Under this framework, employees shall not be tagged through any Point of Presence (PoP) and, consequently PoP-related charges shall not be applicable. These entities shall continue to be governed by the PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) Regulations, 2015, as amended from time to time. The eligibility criteria for Government Entity shall, however, be subject to the following conditions:

1. An undertaking to the effect that all employees under the respective “Government entity” are mandatorily covered under NPS from any cut-off date.
2. The Assets Under Management (AUM) under the Superannuation Fund (SAF), if any, whether managed directly by the “Government entity” or through any third party, shall be fully transferred to NPS Architecture within a period of one year from the date of issuance of the letter.
3. The concerned “Government entity” shall possess full technical and operational capability to integrate directly with the CRA system(s) for NPS subscriber onboarding, contribution remittance, uploading of Subscriber Contribution Files (SCFs), grievance management, processing of exits & withdrawal cases and other related functions, without the involvement of any Point of Presence (PoP) and would implement the same at the earliest.

Note: The above undertaking/certification to this effect shall be certified by the Head of the “Government entity” or Chief Financial Officer or Company Secretary or Chief Compliance Officer.

4. This certification may be submitted to the respective CRA/s latest by 27 March, 2026 to enable the necessary tagging at CRA level. In the absence of submission of such undertaking/ certification by 27 March, 2026, it shall be presumed that the respective organization falls under Legal Entities (other than Government)”, and the charges as prescribed by PFRDA for such Legal Entities (other than Government), from time to time shall accordingly be applicable.

5. For any query related on the subject matter, Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA) or Trustee Bank (TB) officials may be coordinated with the following officials:

6. In the event that an employee ceases employment with a Government Entity and subsequently joins any Legal Entity (other than Government), it shall be the responsibility of such Government Entity to ensure that such employee is appropriately de-tagged in the CRA system under the Government Entity tagging framework.

7. Also, such “Government entities” shall continue to be governed by the applicable PFRDA (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) Regulations, 2015 as amended from time to time, as applicable to Government Nodal offices under the NPS architecture.

8. This Circular is issued in exercise of powers conferred under sub-section (1) of Section 14 read with clause (e) of sub-section (2) of Section 14 of Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 2013.

Yours Sincerely,
Digitally signed by
Ashish Kumar
Chief General Manager
Regulation Contribution Management Department

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