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.
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.
Published on 30-10-2026. Not every fact has been checked against its official source yet: confirm at the office.
Answer a few questions to see which steps apply to you. The whole guide is below.
Documents you need
•
Savings account passbook
original
A bank or post office savings account in your name. If you have none, open one first.
At the bank branch, or on the PFRDA website under "Forms".
Steps
Only if
What do you want to do? Join APY
1.
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.
✋ You do this yourself
📎 Savings account passbook
Only if
Which of these is the person applying? Indian citizen living abroad (NRI) · What do you want to do? Join APY
2.
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.
✋ You do this yourself
📎 FATCA/CRS declaration form
Not confirmed: The PFRDA FAQ does not say which kind of account (such as NRO) NRIs may pay from. Ask your bank.
Only if
What do you want to do? Join APY
3.
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.
✋ You do this yourself
4.
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.
✋ You do this yourself
💰 Fee: ₹42 to ₹1,454 a month, by age and pension; auto-debited from your account.
5.
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.
🏛️ The bank branch or post office where your savings account is
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.
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.
🏛️ The bank branch or post office where your savings account is
8.
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).
✋ You do this yourself
Only if
What do you want to do? Join APY / Already a member: change the pension or how often I pay, or pay missed amounts
9.
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.
✋ You do this yourself
Only if
What do you want to do? Already a member: change the pension or how often I pay, or pay missed amounts
10.
To raise or lower your pension amount, ask at the bank once in a financial year. The fee is ₹50. If you raise it, the new instalment is worked out on your current age; if you lower it, the extra you paid is returned with its earnings.
🏛️ The bank branch or post office of the savings account linked to the APY account
💰 Fee: ₹50 · ₹50, unless it corrects an error.
11.
You can change between paying monthly, every three months or every six months once a year. Ask at the bank.
🏛️ The bank branch or post office of the savings account linked to the APY account
12.
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.
🏛️ The bank branch or post office of the savings account linked to the APY account
13.
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.
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.
✋ You do this yourself
Only if
What do you want to do? Reached 60: start the pension
15.
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.
🏛️ The bank branch or post office of the savings account linked to the APY account
16.
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.
✋ You do this yourself
Only if
What do you want to do? A member has died
17.
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.
🏛️ The bank branch or post office of the savings account linked to the APY account
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.
18.
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.
✋ You do this yourself
19.
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.
🏛️ The bank branch or post office of the savings account linked to the APY account
📎 APY account closure and continuation form (death), Copy of the death certificate, KYC documents of the spouse or nominee, Proof of the spouse's or nominee's bank account
20.
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.
✋ You do this yourself
Only if
What do you want to do? Leave the scheme before 60
21.
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.
🏛️ The bank branch or post office of the savings account linked to the APY account
📎 APY Account Closure Form (Voluntary Exit)
22.
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.
✋ You do this yourself
You cannot get this
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.
You cannot get this
APY is only for Indian citizens. If a member stops being an Indian citizen, the APY account is closed: their own contributions are returned with the net interest (after charges); any Government co-contribution and its interest are not. Ask at the bank branch linked to the APY account.
You cannot get this
You must be at least 18 to join APY; minors cannot open an account.
You cannot get this
You can join APY only up to your 40th birthday; from the next day you cannot.
You cannot get this
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.
Instead, see:
If your spouse is not an income-tax payer and meets the other conditions, they can join in their own name.
Fees and time limits
Step 4
💰 ₹42 to ₹1,454 a month, by age and pension; auto-debited from your account.
Step 10
💰 ₹50 · ₹50, unless it corrects an error.
If something goes wrong
If it is rejected
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.
Not confirmed: We did not check whether someone without a PRAN (not yet a member) can complain on Pension Sahayak with a mobile number; if not, call 1800-110-069.
If it is late
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, you can appeal to the PFRDA Ombudsman in the set format (phone 011-4071 7900).
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.