The central government has given employees covered under the National Pension Scheme two more months to transition to the Unified Pension Scheme. The biggest question is why the government granted this extension. In fact, there hasn't been much enthusiasm among government employees regarding the UPS. So far, only 100,000 government employees have enrolled under the UPS. Consequently, the government has extended the deadline to the end of November. Let us also tell you what kind of update the government has issued regarding UPS.

Has the government extended the UPS deadline?
In light of the lukewarm response from central government employees, the Finance Ministry has extended the deadline for opting for the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) to November 30. In a communication to the Chairman of the pension fund regulator, the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, stated that the deadline for employees to opt for the UPS has been extended by two months. The department stated that several positive changes have recently been made to UPS, including the switch option, benefits on resignation or compulsory retirement, and tax exemptions. In light of this, stakeholders had requested additional time for employees to make a decision. The department stated that keeping this in mind, it has decided to extend the deadline for opting for UPS. This decision was taken after the Finance Minister's approval.

What is the UPS Scheme?
The ministry has requested the Public Sector Undertaking (PFRDA) to make the necessary amendments to its systems and regulations to implement this change. The government has introduced the UPS as an alternative to the NPS for central government employees from April 1, 2025. Under the UPS, employees will receive a fixed pension benefit. Unlike the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), this scheme is contribution-based, with employees contributing 10 percent of their basic pay and dearness allowance, while the government will contribute 18.5 percent. Within six months, only about one lakh central employees have opted for UPS, whereas the total number of eligible employees for it is 23 lakh.

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