PFRDA CRA Charges 2025: The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has announced new charges (CRA Charges) for subscribers of the National Pension System (NPS), Atal Pension Yojana (APY), and other schemes. In a circular issued on September 15, 2025, the authority clarified that these revised charges will be applicable from October 1, 2025. This decision has been taken under the Price Discovery Process adopted for the fees charged by Central Recordkeeping Agencies (CRAs).

New Charges for Government Sector (NPS and UPS)

The fee structure for government employees and other government sector subscribers will be as follows:

PRAN Opening Fee:

e-PRAN Kit: ₹18
Physical PRAN Card: ₹40
Annual Maintenance Charge: ₹100
Transaction Charge: ₹0

The key point here is that accounts with a zero balance will not incur any annual maintenance charge. Furthermore, the e-PRAN Kit will be the default option when opening a PRAN.

New Charges for APY and NPS Lite

Fees for Atal Pension Yojana (APY) and NPS Lite subscribers have been kept very low:

PRAN Opening Fee: ₹15
Annual Maintenance Charge: ₹15
Transaction Charge: ₹0
New Charges for Private Sector (NPS and NPS Vatsalya)
Fees for private sector subscribers are determined according to the Corpus Slab:

PRAN Opening Fee:

e-PRAN Kit: ₹18

Physical PRAN Card: ₹40
Transaction Charge: ₹0
Annual Maintenance Charge (AMC):

Nil Balance: ₹0
₹1 – ₹2,00,000: ₹100
₹2,00,001 – ₹10,00,000: ₹150
₹10,00,001 – ₹25,00,000: ₹300
₹25,00,001 – ₹50,00,000: ₹400
₹Above ₹50,00,000: ₹500

Key points of the new circular
The above-mentioned charges are the upper cap, i.e., the maximum limit. No CRA can charge more than this.
CRAs may reduce the charges if they wish, but they must not fall below the previous slab.
Slab-wise charges will apply to every account in the private sector.
For UPS (Unified Pension Scheme) subscribers, these charges will apply only during the accumulation phase. The payout phase charges will be determined later.
If CRAs launch a new service, they will only be able to charge the actual cost after obtaining approval from the PFRDA.
CRAs are required to display their fee structure on their websites and mobile apps.
This new circular replaces the previous circular dated June 15, 2020.

Why is this change important?
Cras invests in schemes like NPS and APY. These include government employees, private sector workers, and those in the unorganized sector. Consequently, the charges directly impact subscribers' pockets. The new charge structure will make the charges more transparent and provide relief to small investors.

Conclusion
This new decision by PFRDA is in the interest of subscribers. A cap on charges has now been set to prevent CRAs from charging arbitrary fees. Furthermore, the fees have been lowered for different categories, which will benefit small and medium-sized investors. This revised structure will come into effect from October 1, 2025.

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