The Central government has introduced some changes to the Atal Pension Yojana, which was started in 2015, aiming to provide pension facilities to those working in the unorganised sector. Notably, the Ministry of Finance has now chosen not to allow income taxpayers to apply for the Atal Pension Yojana. The new order issued by the Finance Minister will come into effect from October 1, 2022.
As per the gazette notification issued by the Ministry of Finance on August 10, any Indian citizen who is or has been an income tax payer as per the Income Tax Act will not be qualified to join the Atal Pension Yojana from October 1, 2022.
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The new provision says that if someone joins the scheme on or after October 1 and is found to be an income taxpayer, their account will be closed immediately. The pension amount deposited till that time will be refunded as well.
The Ministry's notification read, "In case a subscriber, who joined on or after 1st October 2022, is subsequently found to have been an income-tax payer on or before the date of application, the APY account shall be closed and the accumulated pension wealth till date would be given to the subscriber."
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What are the rules to apply for Atal Pension Yojana?
According to the current rules, any citizen between the age of 18-40 who has a savings account with any bank or post office can apply for the scheme. According to the new rules, applicable from October 1, 2022, income taxpayers won’t be able to participate and invest in the Atal Pension Yojana.
