New NPS PoP charges from 1 October 2026: Rs 200 onboarding, 0.20% annual AUM fee and who pays nothing
PFRDA's new NPS PoP charges from 1 October 2026: a Rs 200 onboarding fee, 0.20% a year of AUM, and nil for dormant accounts and eNPS subscribers, with a worked drawdown.
Key points
- PFRDA's circular of 28 August 2026 sets a single PoP charge structure for all NPS schemes and NPS Lite from 1 October 2026.
- PoPs may charge Rs 200 per PRAN at onboarding, or Rs 100 for fully digital onboarding, plus 0.20% a year of AUM through NAV, with GST extra.
- Dormant accounts and subscribers who joined and contribute via eNPS or D-Remit pay nothing, which matters for retirees who stop contributing.
From 1 October 2026, every National Pension System account opened or serviced through a Point of Presence (PoP) runs on a single, simpler fee schedule. PFRDA Circular No. PFRDA/2026/46/REG-POP/08, dated 28 August 2026 and titled "Charge structure applicable to PoPs for All Schemes under NPS and NPS Lite", replaces the old menu of PoP fees with two charges: a one-time Rs 200 onboarding charge per PRAN and an annual charge of 0.20% of assets under management.
The circular also carves out two groups who pay nothing at all: dormant accounts, and subscribers who both joined and contribute through eNPS or D-Remit. For a retiree, the second carve-out is the one that matters most, because on the circular's own definition an account that stops receiving contributions for four consecutive quarters is dormant. This guide sets out the rules, what they cost at different corpus sizes, how they interact with the exit and tax rules, and a five-year worked drawdown.
If you want to model your own numbers alongside this guide, the NPS calculator projects a corpus at 60 and the retirement drawdown calculator shows how long a given corpus lasts at a chosen withdrawal rate.
The Scheme Explained
The National Pension System is regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA). A PoP is the registered intermediary that onboards subscribers and accepts their contributions. Regulation 16 of the PFRDA (Point of Presence) Regulations, 2018 says the charges a PoP collects from a subscriber are subject to the limits, method and manner of collection that PFRDA specifies from time to time. The 28 August 2026 circular is that specification, issued under Section 14(1) read with Section 14(2)(e) of the PFRDA Act, 2013.
Why the schedule changed on 1 October 2026
On the same day, 28 August 2026, PFRDA issued a separate circular titled "Standardised framework for classification and presentation of Schemes under NPS". That framework removes the distinction between the Common Schemes and the schemes launched under the Multiple Scheme Framework (MSF). With one category of scheme, PFRDA has moved to one PoP charge structure covering all NPS schemes and NPS Lite.
The new circular supersedes circular PFRDA/2026/16/REG-POP/01 dated 10 March 2026, which had set PoP charges for the Common Schemes including NPS Vatsalya and NPS Lite. The supersession is effective from 1 October 2026, and the Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs) implement the deduction from Q3 of FY 2026-27, the quarter that began on that date.
The two charges
| Charge | Amount | How it is collected | Paid to PoP |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-time onboarding | Rs 200 per PRAN | Equivalent of Rs 50 per quarter, recovered by the CRA cancelling units | In the month after the quarter in which onboarding completes |
| Reduced onboarding (fully digital, non-face-to-face) | Rs 100 per PRAN | As determined by PFRDA at PoP registration and thereafter | Same as above |
| Annual charge | 0.20% p.a. of AUM | Adjusted through NAV | Quarterly |
| Dormant accounts | Nil | Not charged | Not applicable |
GST and any other applicable taxes are charged on top of all of these amounts, as note (i) to the circular's table states. The circular does not state the GST rate, so the figures in this article are shown before tax.
Two points about mechanics are worth noting. First, the Rs 200 onboarding charge is not deducted in one go: the CRA recovers the equivalent of Rs 50 per quarter by cancelling units, so the cost appears as a small reduction in units held over four quarters. Second, the 0.20% annual charge is adjusted through the NAV, so it never appears as a separate debit on a statement; it shows up as a marginally lower NAV on the schemes held.
Who pays nothing
| Subscriber situation | Onboarding charge | Annual 0.20% charge |
|---|---|---|
| Onboarded via eNPS, contributes via eNPS or D-Remit | Nil | Nil |
| Onboarded via a PoP, later contributes via eNPS or D-Remit | Rs 200 (or Rs 100 if digital) | 0.20% p.a. |
| Onboarded via a PoP, contributes via the PoP | Rs 200 (or Rs 100 if digital) | 0.20% p.a. |
| Dormant account (any route) | Not applicable | Nil |
| 4A Schemes such as NPS Swasthya | Own guidelines | Own guidelines |
The second row is the trap. A subscriber who joined through a bank branch and then switches every contribution to eNPS or D-Remit is still a PoP-onboarded subscriber under paragraph 5 of the circular, and still pays the PoP charges. Switching the contribution channel does not switch off the fee; only the onboarding route does.
The dormant-account definition
Note (ii) to the circular defines a dormant account as one identified by a unique PAN across all CRAs, where no contribution has been made for four consecutive quarters after a contribution in a quarter, checked at each quarter-end. Dormant accounts are not charged. The test runs on the PAN across all CRAs, so a subscriber with accounts at more than one CRA is assessed as a whole, not account by account.
Minimum contributions and disclosure
Paragraph 4 sets the minimum contribution at Rs 250 at the time of onboarding and Rs 10 for each subsequent contribution. Paragraph 6 makes it mandatory for every PoP to display the updated charge structure on its website and to show it to subscribers through a pop-up during digital onboarding. If you are opening an account through a PoP after 1 October 2026 and you do not see the Rs 200 or Rs 100 figure before you pay, the PoP has not met that requirement.
What the charge costs at different corpus sizes
The annual charge scales with the AUM in your account, so a larger corpus pays more in rupees even though the rate is flat.
| Corpus (AUM) | Annual charge at 0.20% | Per quarter |
|---|---|---|
| Rs 5,00,000 | Rs 1,000 | Rs 250 |
| Rs 10,00,000 | Rs 2,000 | Rs 500 |
| Rs 25,00,000 | Rs 5,000 | Rs 1,250 |
| Rs 50,00,000 | Rs 10,000 | Rs 2,500 |
| Rs 1,00,00,000 | Rs 20,000 | Rs 5,000 |
All figures are before GST and assume the balance is constant through the year. In practice the charge is applied through NAV on a moving balance, so the actual rupee amount will differ slightly.
Tax on Withdrawal
The PoP charge changes the cost of holding NPS; it does not change the exit or tax rules. Those still come from the PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025, notified on 19 December 2025, and from the Income-tax Act. The table below summarises the exit splits by sector as set out in PFRDA's press release of 19 December 2025.
| Rule at normal exit | Non-government (All Citizen, Corporate) | Government sector | NPS Lite |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum lump sum | 80% | 60% | 60% |
| Minimum annuity | 20% | 40% | 40% |
| Full lump sum allowed if corpus is up to | Rs 8,00,000 | Rs 8,00,000 | Rs 2,00,000 |
| Mid band (Rs 6,00,000 lump sum cap) | Above Rs 8,00,000 up to Rs 12,00,000 | Above Rs 8,00,000 up to Rs 12,00,000 | Not applicable |
| Premature exit: maximum lump sum | 20% (full if corpus up to Rs 5,00,000) | Not covered here | Not covered here |
The amendment also removed the five-year lock-in for premature exit in the non-government sector, and set the maximum entry and exit age at 85.
The 60% tax ceiling and the 80% withdrawal ceiling are not the same
Section 10(12A) of the Income-tax Act exempts the payment on closure or opting out of NPS only to the extent it does not exceed 60% of the total amount payable. That 60% limit has applied since 1 April 2020. PFRDA's 19 December 2025 amendment raised the non-government lump-sum limit to 80%, but PFRDA has no power over the Income-tax Act.
The result is a gap. On a Rs 20,00,000 non-government corpus, a subscriber may withdraw up to Rs 16,00,000 (80%), but only Rs 12,00,000 (60%) falls within the Section 10(12A) exemption. The tax treatment of the Rs 4,00,000 slice between 60% and 80% does not follow from Section 10(12A), and Oquilia has found no Finance Act provision aligning the two. Do not assume that slice is exempt, and do not assume it is taxable; confirm it with the Income Tax Department's guidance on incometax.gov.in or a qualified adviser before you withdraw it.
Partial withdrawals
Partial withdrawals are unaffected by the gap. Section 10(12B) exempts withdrawals of up to 25% of the subscriber's own contributions, excluding the employer's share and returns, and the PFRDA limit is also 25%. The rules require at least 3 years in the scheme, allow a maximum of 4 partial withdrawals before 60 with at least 4 years between them, and after 60 require a gap of at least 3 years between withdrawals.
Worked Drawdown
The example below shows what the new annual charge costs a retiree drawing down an NPS balance, and why the dormant-account rule can change the answer. It is an illustration built only from the circular's figures, not a forecast.
Assumptions: a non-government subscriber, onboarded via a PoP, holds Rs 25,00,000 of lump-sum entitlement that remains invested in NPS after exit at 60 and is drawn down at Rs 2,00,000 at the end of each year. To isolate the PoP charge, the tables assume no investment return; real NAVs will move. The 0.20% charge is applied to the year-opening balance, and GST is excluded. The one-time onboarding charge of Rs 200 was paid years earlier and is ignored.
Scenario A: the account is charged every year
This is what happens if the account keeps receiving contributions, even as little as the Rs 10 minimum, and so never meets the four-quarter dormancy test.
| Year | Opening balance | PoP charge (0.20%) | Withdrawal | Closing balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rs 25,00,000 | Rs 5,000 | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 22,95,000 |
| 2 | Rs 22,95,000 | Rs 4,590 | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 20,90,410 |
| 3 | Rs 20,90,410 | Rs 4,181 | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 18,86,229 |
| 4 | Rs 18,86,229 | Rs 3,772 | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 16,82,457 |
| 5 | Rs 16,82,457 | Rs 3,365 | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 14,79,092 |
Total PoP charges over five years: Rs 20,908, before GST.
Scenario B: the account becomes dormant after year 1
If contributions stop at 60, the account meets the circular's dormancy definition once four consecutive quarter-ends pass with no contribution. On the plain wording of note (ii), it is then not charged. For simplicity the table charges the full year 1 and nothing thereafter.
| Year | Opening balance | PoP charge | Withdrawal | Closing balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rs 25,00,000 | Rs 5,000 | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 22,95,000 |
| 2 | Rs 22,95,000 | Nil | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 20,95,000 |
| 3 | Rs 20,95,000 | Nil | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 18,95,000 |
| 4 | Rs 18,95,000 | Nil | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 16,95,000 |
| 5 | Rs 16,95,000 | Nil | Rs 2,00,000 | Rs 14,95,000 |
Total PoP charges over five years: Rs 5,000, before GST. The closing balance after year 5 is Rs 15,908 higher than in Scenario A.
What the comparison shows
The difference of Rs 15,908 over five years is the cost of keeping a small contribution going into an account that is otherwise being drawn down. A retiree who makes a token Rs 10 contribution "to keep the account active" would, on this reading, be paying the 0.20% charge on the whole balance in exchange. The circular checks dormancy at each quarter-end, so the exact quarter in which charging stops depends on when the last contribution was made.
The circular does not say how dormancy interacts with systematic withdrawals from an account after exit, so confirm the status of your PRAN with your CRA before you rely on Scenario B. For comparing an annuity against a systematic withdrawal plan from the same corpus, the annuity vs SWP calculator sets the two side by side.
FAQ
When do the new NPS PoP charges start?
The charge structure applies from 1 October 2026 to all NPS schemes and NPS Lite, under PFRDA Circular No. PFRDA/2026/46/REG-POP/08 dated 28 August 2026. CRAs implement the deduction from Q3 of FY 2026-27.
How much is the NPS onboarding charge under the new rules?
It is Rs 200 per PRAN, recovered as the equivalent of Rs 50 per quarter by the CRA cancelling units. A reduced Rs 100 charge may apply where onboarding is fully digital and non-face-to-face, as determined by PFRDA at the time of PoP registration. GST is extra.
What is the annual PoP charge, and how is it deducted?
It is 0.20% per year of AUM for all schemes except dormant accounts. It is adjusted through NAV and paid to the PoP quarterly, so on a Rs 10,00,000 balance it works out to Rs 2,000 a year, or Rs 500 a quarter, before GST.
Who does not pay any PoP charge?
Two groups pay nothing: subscribers who were onboarded through eNPS and contribute through eNPS or D-Remit, and dormant accounts. A subscriber onboarded through a PoP who later moves contributions to eNPS or D-Remit still pays the PoP charges, under paragraph 5 of the 28 August 2026 circular.
What counts as a dormant NPS account?
An account, identified by a unique PAN across all CRAs, that has received no contribution for four consecutive quarters after a contribution in a quarter, checked at each quarter-end. Dormant accounts are not charged the 0.20% annual fee.
What are the minimum NPS contributions from 1 October 2026?
The minimum is Rs 250 at the time of onboarding and Rs 10 for each subsequent contribution, under paragraph 4 of the circular.
Is the whole NPS lump sum covered by the 60% tax exemption?
Not automatically. For non-government subscribers PFRDA allows up to 80% as a lump sum from 19 December 2025, but Section 10(12A) of the Income-tax Act exempts only up to 60% of the amount payable. Confirm the treatment of the slice between 60% and 80% before withdrawing it.
Sources: PFRDA Circular No. PFRDA/2026/46/REG-POP/08 dated 28 August 2026 on pfrda.org.in; PFRDA (Exits and Withdrawals under the NPS) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 and PFRDA press release of 19 December 2025; Section 10(12A) and Section 10(12B) of the Income-tax Act, incometax.gov.in. This article is general information, not advice.