NPS Stakeholders or NPS Entities
NPS has a unbundled architecture where different function is accomplished by different entities. That is the reason why there are many stakeholders involved in this architecture.
NPS Stakeholders
NPS has a number of different stakeholders to perform different functions. The details of such stakeholders or entities are as mentioned below:
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) is the regulator of NPS. It is an autonomous body which has been set up by the government of India to develop and regulate the pension market in India.
NPS Trust
For taking care of the assets and funds under the NPS in the interest of the subscribers, NPS trust has been set up. NPS Trust is established by PFRDA. NPS Trust is the registered owner of all assets under NPS.
Pension Fund Managers (PFM)
PFRDA appoints various Pension Funds (PFs) to would manage your retirement savings under the NPS. SBI Pension Funds Private Limited acts as the default Pension Fund Manager. There are 8 PFMs as listed below:
- ICICI Prudential Pension Fund
- LIC Pension Fund
- Kotak Mahindra Pension Fund
- Reliance Capital Pension Fund
- SBI Pension Fund
- UTI Retirement Solutions Pension Fund LIC Pension Fund
- HDFC Pension Management Company
- DSP Blackrock Pension Fund Managers
Annuity Service Providers (ASP)
When you exit from NPS after retirement, some portion (At least 40%) of your NPS corpus has been given to ASP to deliver a regular monthly pension to you as pension. The default annuity service provider is Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). Currently, there are 7 ASPs as detailed below:
- Life Insurance Corporation of India
- SBI Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
- ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
- Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd.
- HDFC Standard Life Insurance Co. Ltd
Trustee Bank
Axis Bank has been appointed as the Trustee Bank for NPS. The main job of trustee bank is to facilitate fund transfers across various entities of the NPS system viz. Subscribers, PFMs, ASPs, etc.
Central Recordkeeping Agency (CRA)
NSDL e-Governance Infrastructure Limited is the CRA of NPS. The recordkeeping, administration and customer service functions for all subscribers of the NPS are being handled by NSDL.
NPS Subscribers
The persons who open their NPS account and contribute money are known as subscribers of NPS.
Points of Presence (POPs)
POPs are the first points of interaction of the NPS subscriber with the NPS architecture. The authorized branches of a POP are called Point of Presence Service Providers (POP-SPs). POP-SPs act as collection points and offer various facilities such as opening Permanent Retirement Account, contributing to NPS, etc. to the NPS subscribers.