The Finance Ministry in the notification has said that income tax payers will not be allowed to enroll in the government's social security scheme Atal Pension Yojana (APY) from October 1, 2022. The government introduced APY on June 1, 2015, to provide social security to workers mainly in the unorganised sector. Subscribers of the scheme get a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 per month after attaining 60 years of age depending on their contributions.
The new notification will not apply to subscribers who have joined or joins the scheme before October 1, 2022. In case a subscriber, who joined on or after October 1, 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. Under the income tax law, people having taxable income of up to Rs 2.5 lakh are not required to pay income tax.
Currently, all Indian citizens between the age group of 18-40 years can join APY through bank or post office branches where one has the savings bank account. The government had co-contributed 50% of the total contribution or Rs 1,000 per annum, whichever is lower, to each eligible subscriber, who joined the scheme during the period from June 2015 to March 2016. It was also subject to the condition that the subscriber was not a beneficiary of any social security scheme and also not an income tax payer.
