Atal Pension Yojana (APY)
Who can join the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), how to join at a bank or post office, what you pay, the pension from 60, leaving early, what to do when a member dies, and where to complain.
About this guidePending verification
Published on 12-11-2026. Not every fact has been checked against its official source yet: confirm at the office.
For whom: Indian citizens aged 18 to 40 with a bank or post office savings account (especially workers in the unorganised sector); people already in APY, and their spouses and nominees.
Answer the questions below first. Then the documents and steps open.
1Your situation
We show only what your answers need.
- Which of these is the person applying?
- What do you want to do?
- How old is the person joining?
- Are you, or have you ever been, liable to pay income tax (an income-tax payer)?
- Did the member die before reaching 60, or after?
Your answers stay on this phone.
Each step below says who it is for. Confirm yours at the office, then change your answer here.
This route does not apply to your situation
The Atal Pension Yojana is only for citizens of India (APY notification of 16 October 2015, para 2). Under the Ministry of Home Affairs notification S.O. 1050(E) of 4 March 2021, OCI cardholders are foreign nationals, not Indian citizens. So OCI cardholders and foreign nationals cannot join APY.
→ There is no other way into APY for OCI cardholders and foreign nationals. For questions, call PFRDA's toll-free number, 1800-110-069.
Sources: 1, 4, 5, 16
This route does not apply to your situation
APY is only for Indian citizens. If a member stops being an Indian citizen, the APY account is closed. PFRDA's FAQ (question 19) says the net interest earned on the member's contributions, after account charges, is refunded, and any Government co-contribution and its interest are not. It does not say in so many words that the contributions themselves are returned. Ask at the bank branch linked to the APY account what will be paid.
Sources: 5, 1, 16
This route does not apply to your situation
You must be at least 18 to join APY; minors cannot open an account.
→ Once you are 18, and until you turn 40, you can join at the bank branch or post office where you have a savings account.
Sources: 1, 5
This route does not apply to your situation
You can join APY only up to your 40th birthday; from the next day you cannot.
→ After 40 there is no way to join APY. The state government's old-age pension has its own rules; for it, see this guide:
Sources: 1, 5
This route does not apply to your situation
From 1 October 2022, anyone who is or has been liable to pay income tax cannot join APY (notification of 10 August 2022). If, after joining, someone is found to have been a taxpayer on or before applying, the account is closed and the amount built up is returned.
→ If your spouse is not an income-tax payer and meets the other conditions, they can join in their own name.
Sources: 3, 5, 4
2Documents you need
Tick the ones you have. They are kept in this browser.
Details
A bank or post office savings account in your name. If you have none, open one first.
If you don't have it: A post office savings account also works.
Sources: 1, 5, 4
Details
Fill it in English, in block letters. Post offices use their own version, addressed to the Postmaster.
If you don't have it: Available at the bank branch or post office. Also on the PFRDA website under "Forms", and on the Jan Suraksha website (including a Telugu form).
Sources: 6, 4, 9, 7, 8
Details
The form asks for your Aadhaar number, and your spouse's and nominee's. If you cannot give it when joining, you must give it later.
Sources: 6, 5
Details
Only if your country of residence for tax, birth or citizenship is not India, or you are a US person. Give that country's tax number (TIN).
If you don't have it: It comes with the joining form.
Sources: 6
Details
If you don't have it: Ask at the bank branch. The PFRDA website has it in Hindi and some other languages; we did not see English or Telugu versions there.
Sources: 11, 9
Details
A copy attested by the bank branch or post office.
Sources: 11
Details
Not confirmed: The form does not say which documents count as KYC. Ask the bank.
Sources: 11
Details
It must show the account number and IFSC code.
Sources: 11
Details
If you don't have it: At the bank branch, or on the PFRDA website under "Forms".
Sources: 10, 9
Nothing to get ready before these steps.
3Your steps
· Do them in order. Tick each one when it is done.
- Do this nowIf: Join APY
You need a savings account at a bank or post office.
One person may have only one APY account. Each family member aged 18 to 40 can join separately in their own name.
Sources: 1, 5, 4
- Do this nowIf: Indian citizen living abroad (NRI)If: Join APY
Indian citizens living abroad (NRIs) can also join if they meet the conditions.
If your country of residence for tax is not India, also give the FATCA/CRS declaration form with the joining form.
Not confirmed
The PFRDA FAQ does not say which kind of account (such as NRO) NRIs may pay from. Ask your bank.
Sources: 5, 6
- Do this nowIf: Join APY
Choose the monthly pension you want after 60: ₹1,000, ₹2,000, ₹3,000, ₹4,000 or ₹5,000.
Also choose how often you pay: every month, every three months, or every six months. You pay until you turn 60. In January 2026 the Union Cabinet approved continuing the scheme until 2030-31.
Sources: 1, 4, 5, 15, 14
- Do this nowIf: Join APY
What you pay is set in the scheme's table by your age when you join and the pension you choose.
Monthly examples: joining at 18, ₹42 (for ₹1,000 pension) to ₹210 (for ₹5,000); at 30, ₹116 to ₹577; at 40, ₹291 to ₹1,454. The bank writes your amount on the form.
Sources: 1, 5, 6
- Do this nowIf: Join APY
Go to the bank branch or post office where your savings account is and fill in the APY form: Aadhaar, mobile number, your spouse's name if married (the spouse is the nominee), otherwise a nominee, and whether you pay income tax.
Authorise the auto-debit from your account until 60, sign (or give your thumb impression) and hand it in.
Sources: 6, 4, 5, 3, 7
- Do this nowIf: Join APY
Or without going to the bank: join online through "eAPY" from the APY page on the PFRDA website.
Your details are taken from Aadhaar and you submit with an e-sign.
Open the official pageSources: 4, 5
- Do this nowIf: Join APY
After handing in the form, take the acknowledgement.
It shows your PRAN number, the pension amount and the contribution. Account details and credits come to your mobile by SMS.
Sources: 6, 5
- Do this nowIf: Join APY
If you pay monthly, the money is debited on some day each month.
If you pay every three or six months, you pay for that whole period when you join; the next instalment is debited in the first month of the next quarter (April, July, October, January) or half-year (April, October).
Sources: 5
- Do this nowIf: Join APY / Already a member: change the pension or how often I pay, or pay missed amounts
Keep enough money in the account on the due date.
If it is short, the amount is taken the next month with overdue interest: ₹1 for every ₹100 for each month late. The account is not closed for missed payments, but maintenance charges keep being deducted until the balance runs out.
Sources: 5, 6
- Do this nowIf: Already a member: change the pension or how often I pay, or pay missed amounts
To raise or lower your pension amount, ask at the bank once in a financial year.
The fee is ₹50. If you raise it and you are 40 or younger, you do not pay the difference for the past; the new instalment is worked out on your current age and the new pension. PFRDA's FAQ says this only for members aged 40 or less; if you are older, ask the bank what you must pay. If you lower it, the extra you paid is returned with its earnings.
Sources: 5
- Do this nowIf: Already a member: change the pension or how often I pay, or pay missed amounts
You can change between paying monthly, every three months or every six months once a year.
Ask at the bank.
Sources: 5
- Do this nowIf: Already a member: change the pension or how often I pay, or pay missed amounts
If you missed instalments, you can put the account right at any time by paying what is due with the overdue interest.
If there is money in the account, more than one missed instalment can be taken at once.
Sources: 5
- Do this nowIf: Already a member: change the pension or how often I pay, or pay missed amounts
You can see your account by SMS and in the "APY and NPS Lite" mobile app; a paper statement comes to your address once a year.
You can download the e-PRAN and transaction statement on the CRA website.
Open the official pageSources: 5, 13
- Do this nowIf: Already a member: change the pension or how often I pay, or pay missed amounts
If you were not an income-tax payer on the day you joined but became one later, your account is not affected.
People who joined by 30 September 2022 can continue even if they pay income tax. If you move town, instalments continue from the same account.
Sources: 5, 3
- Do this nowIf: Reached 60: start the pension
After you turn 60, apply at the bank branch or post office linked to your APY account for the monthly pension.
It is paid for life.
Sources: 5, 1
- Do this nowIf: Reached 60: start the pension
After the member dies, the spouse gets the same pension for life.
After both have died, the nominee gets the amount built up by the time the member turned 60.
Sources: 1, 5, 15
- Do this nowIf: A member has diedIf: After reaching 60
If the member died after 60 (while getting the pension): the spouse gets the same pension for life.
After the spouse also dies, the nominee gets the amount built up by age 60. Tell the bank branch.
Not confirmed
The documents we read do not say which form the spouse uses for the pension after a death past 60. Ask the bank.
Sources: 1, 5
- Do this nowIf: A member has diedIf: Before reaching 60
If the member died before 60, the spouse can choose one of two: (1) keep the account going in the spouse's name, paying the same amount until the date the member would have turned 60, and then get the same pension for life; or (2) take the amount built up so far.
If the member was unmarried, the nominee gets that amount.
Sources: 2, 5, 11, 15
- Do this nowIf: A member has diedIf: Before reaching 60
If the member died before 60: at the bank branch, fill in the death-case form and mark whether to close or continue the account.
Give the copy of the death certificate attested by the bank, your KYC and proof of your bank account. Take the bank's acknowledgement.
Sources: 11, 9
- Do this nowIf: A member has diedIf: Before reaching 60
If the account is continued, a new PRAN is made in the spouse's name and the balance is moved into it.
Instalments are debited from the spouse's own savings account. This is in addition to any APY account the spouse already has.
Sources: 5
- Do this nowIf: Leave the scheme before 60
At the bank branch, fill in the "APY Account Closure Form (Voluntary Exit)": PRAN, the savings account for the money, and the reason.
Take the bank's acknowledgement.
Sources: 10, 9, 5
- Do this nowIf: Leave the scheme before 60
If you leave before 60, you get back only what you paid in, with its earnings, less charges.
Those who joined before 31 March 2016 and got the Government co-contribution do not get that share or its earnings. There is no guaranteed pension.
Sources: 5, 10, 1
If something goes wrong
If it is rejectedIf the bank or post office will not enrol you, or will not take your request (pension, closure, death case), log in to PFRDA's "Pension Sahayak" portal with your mobile number or PRAN and lodge a grievance.
If the bank or post office will not enrol you, or will not take your request (pension, closure, death case), log in to PFRDA's "Pension Sahayak" portal with your mobile number or PRAN and lodge a grievance. It goes to the body concerned, and the reply comes to you by email. For questions about joining, PFRDA's toll-free number is 1800-110-069.
PFRDA Pension Sahayak · Open the official page
Sources: 12, 5, 4
If it is lateIf a grievance on Pension Sahayak is not resolved within 30 days, or you are not satisfied, use "escalate" under "Track Grievance" on the same portal to send it to the NPS Trust.
If a grievance on Pension Sahayak is not resolved within 30 days, or you are not satisfied, use "escalate" under "Track Grievance" on the same portal to send it to the NPS Trust. If there is no reply there within 21 days, or you are not satisfied with it, you can appeal to the PFRDA Ombudsman in the set format (phone 011-4071 7900).
PFRDA Pension Sahayak (track and escalate) · Open the official page
Sources: 12
AlsoIf you are already a member: if an instalment was debited wrongly, a credit is missing, or your details need correcting, call the APY toll-free number 1800-889-1030 (CRA), or lodge a grievance on Pension Sahayak.
If you are already a member: if an instalment was debited wrongly, a credit is missing, or your details need correcting, call the APY toll-free number 1800-889-1030 (CRA), or lodge a grievance on Pension Sahayak. The bank or post office where your APY account is can also raise the grievance for you in the CRA's system (PFRDA's FAQ, question 33(5)).
APY toll-free (CRA) · Open the official page
Sources: 5, 13, 12
Related guides
- Opening a bank account (Jan Dhan / zero-balance account)
- Post office savings account, and India Post Payments Bank account
- Linking Aadhaar to your bank account (DBT seeding)
- Getting a new Aadhaar
- After a death in the family
- PM Jeevan Jyoti and Suraksha Bima (PMJJBY, PMSBY)
- e-Shram card (unorganised workers' registration)
- Construction worker card (labour card)
The 16 official pages and papers this guide is written from
- Notification F. No. 16/1/2015-PR, 16 October 2015: Atal Pension Yojana (Gazette of India Extraordinary, Part I, Section 1), with Annex 1 (contribution table), on the Jan Suraksha websiteDepartment of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Paras 2 (citizens of India with a savings bank account, 18 to 40), 3 (guaranteed pension of Rs 1000 to 5000 a month from 60; spouse; nominee), 4 (auto-debit monthly, quarterly or half-yearly until 60), 5 (co-contribution, 2015-16 to 2019-20), 7–8 (enrolment through banks and the Department of Posts), 13 (exit; co-contribution not returned); Annex 1 (monthly contributions by age and pension) (16-10-2015) · read on 01-11-2026
- Notification F. No. 16/1/2015-PR, 22 March 2016: amendment to the APY notification (spouse may continue the account)Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, New para 3(iii): on the subscriber's death before 60, the spouse may continue contributing in the spouse's name until the subscriber would have reached 60, and get the same pension (22-03-2016) · read on 30-10-2026
- Department of Posts letters F. No. FS-10/24/2022-FS-DOP of 22 August and 30 September 2022 on the change in APY eligibility, enclosing the Gazette notification F. No. 16/1/2015-PR of 10 August 2022Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance (notification) and Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications (letters), Government of India, Notification of 10 August 2022, I (from 1 October 2022 a citizen who is or has been an income-tax payer may not join) and II (account closed if found to have been a taxpayer on or before applying); letter of 22 August 2022, para 3 (not for those who joined by 30 September 2022; a later taxpayer keeps the account); letter of 30 September 2022 (self-declaration of income-tax status at enrolment) (10-08-2022) · read on 30-10-2026
- PFRDA: Atal Pension Yojana (APY): overview, eligibility and administration, features, join APYPension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), "Eligibility & Administration" (Indian citizens with a savings account in a bank or the Department of Posts; 18 to 40; no income-tax payers from 1 October 2022); "Features of APY"; "Join APY" (registration form at the branch or post office; eAPY online); toll free 1800 110 069 · read on 01-11-2026
- Frequently Asked Questions – Atal Pension YojanaPension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Q3–Q8 (eligibility, income-tax payers), Q11 (Aadhaar), Q12–Q19 (savings account, nominee, one account, minors, age 40, NRIs, ceasing to be a citizen), Q20–Q21, Q24–Q31 (contributions, due dates, overdue interest, non-payment), Q33 (eAPY, PRAN card, upgrade/downgrade, spouse continuation, grievances, mobile app), Q35–Q40 (change of pension and frequency, Rs 50 fee, statements, moving, helplines 1800-110-069 and 1800-889-1030), Q42 (charges), Q43–Q46 (pension, exit, death before 60); Annexure (contribution table). PDF created 18 October 2023 · read on 30-10-2026
- Atal Pension Yojana (APY) Subscriber Registration Form (English), with the FATCA/CRS declaration formPension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Bank details; personal details (Aadhaar, mobile, spouse as default nominee, nominee); "Whether Income Tax Payer"; FATCA/CRS ($ for US persons and tax residents of other countries); pension details; auto-debit authority until 60; acknowledgement with PRAN; FATCA/CRS self-certification · read on 30-10-2026
- Jan Suraksha website: Forms for Atal Pension Yojana (application forms, including Telugu and a Department of Post version)Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, APPLICATION-FORMS: English, "Department of Post (English)", Telugu (తెలుగు) and others · read on 30-10-2026
- Atal Pension Yojana (APY) – Subscriber Registration Form, Department of Post version (English), on the Jan Suraksha websiteDepartment of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, Government of India, Opening line: "To, The Postmaster"; post office savings bank account number; "Please fill the form in English and BLOCK letters" · read on 11-11-2026
- PFRDA Forms: APY Subscriber Form (registration forms, Account Closure (Voluntary Exit) forms, Account Closure and Continuation (Death) forms)Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), List under "APY Subscriber Form", dated 27-06-2025 · read on 30-10-2026
- Atal Pension Yojana (APY) – Account Closure Form (Voluntary Exit)Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), PRAN, savings account for the corpus, reason; note on refund of own contributions with net income and no return of the Government co-contribution; acknowledgement by the bank · read on 30-10-2026
- Atal Pension Yojana (APY) account closure form, death case (effective 25.08.2017), Hindi versionPension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Page 1: request by the spouse or nominee to close or to continue the account (per PFRDA circular of 2 May 2016); spouse's or nominee's bank details. Page 2: documents (copy of the death certificate attested by the bank branch or post office; KYC of the spouse or nominee; proof of their bank details); note (before 60 the corpus is paid to the spouse as default nominee) (25-08-2017) · read on 30-10-2026
- PFRDA: About Grievance (grievance redressal mechanism for NPS and APY)Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Level 1 (PFRDA Pension Sahayak portal, login with mobile number or PRAN), Level 2 (escalation to NPS Trust after 30 days), Level 3 (Ombudsman, PFRDA, after 21 days; phone 011-4071 7900), Levels 4–5 · read on 01-11-2026
- NPS CRA: Atal Pension Yojana (APY) scheme detailsProtean eGov Technologies Ltd, Central Recordkeeping Agency appointed by PFRDA, Banner: "Toll Free Number - 1800 889 1030 of Atal Pension Yojana (New NPS-CRA toll-free number 1800 210 0080)"; menu "APY e-PRAN / Transaction Statement View", "Forms", "FAQs" · read on 01-11-2026
- Cabinet approves continuation of Atal Pension Yojana (APY) and extension of funding support for promotional and developmental activities and gap funding till 2030-31Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Published 21-01-2026: APY continued till 2030-31; assured minimum pension of ₹1,000–5,000 a month from 60 (21-01-2026) · read on 01-11-2026
- Three Jan Suraksha Schemes (PMSBY, PMJJBY and APY) complete 11 years of providing social security coverPress Information Bureau (Ministry of Finance), Government of India, Section 3 (APY): 18 to 40, not income-tax payers; pension Rs 1000 to 5000 after 60; spouse and nominee; continuation by spouse; monthly, quarterly or half-yearly; voluntary exit (09-05-2026) · read on 30-10-2026
- Notification S.O. 1050(E), 4 March 2021: rights of an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder, under section 7B(1) of the Citizenship Act, 1955Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, Right (5); Explanation (1) (an OCI cardholder is a foreign national, not a citizen of India) (04-03-2021) · read on 30-10-2026