Ups: The central government has now extended the last date for joining the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) to 30 September 2025. Earlier this deadline was till 31 July 2025. This will benefit the valid wives of the central government employees, former pensioners and deceased pensioners who were not able to join the UPS till now.
What is UPS plan?
Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) is a new government pension scheme which has been implemented from 1 April 2025. Under the UPS, the government employee gets a fixed monthly pension after retirement. The scheme comes under NPS (National Pension System) but it is different from it as it guarantees pension.
What is the difference between NPS and UPS?
While NPS is based on the market and its return depends on the performance of the stock market and bonds, the pension is fixed in the UPS. The UPS promises to give a pension of at least Rs 10,000, if the employee is 10 years old. That is, UPS is a low risk and fixed advantage scheme.
Who can apply for UPS?
The UPS can only include central government employees who are in service till 1 April 2025 and are already included in NPS. Apart from this, former retired government employees and valid wives of such dead employees can also join UPS.
How to apply online?
The government has made the process of shifting to UPS easier. Employees can go to NPS to UPS Migration section and login through PRAN number, date of birth and OTP. Apply will be completed after E-signs.
How to apply offline
Those who are not comfortable in the online process, they can download Form A2 and join the UPS by depositing them in their nodal office. The nodal office will process this application on the CRA portal. Once the UPS is included, there will be no option to return to NPS again. Therefore, before applying, take decisions well.