The Central Government has once again clarified the situation on the long standing expectations among the central employees regarding the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). The government has clearly stated in the Lok Sabha that there is no proposal under consideration to re-implement OPS for central employees covered under the National Pension Scheme (NPS) or the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS).

Clear answer given in Lok Sabha

In response to a written question asked by the Finance Ministry in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said that at present there is no plan to restore the old pension scheme for those central government employees who come under the purview of NPS or UPS. It has become clear from this statement that central employees should not expect the return of OPS in the near future.

States took a different decision

However, different from the stand of the Central Government, some state governments have decided to re-implement the old pension scheme for their employees. The government said that Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have informed the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) in this regard. These states have chosen the path of implementing OPS at their own level, but it does not have a direct impact on the policy of the Central Government.

Legal hurdle in returning NPS corpus

A big legal question has also come up with the decision to implement OPS. According to the Finance Ministry, there is no provision in the existing law to return the corpus of employee and government contributions deposited under NPS to the states. There is no provision in the PFRDA Act 2013 and its related rules through which this amount can be transferred to the state governments.

Government's position regarding UPS

Regarding the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), the government reiterated that it is a fund based pension system. In this, the regular contribution of both the employees and the government increases through investment. The government claims that under UPS, employees get some assured benefits at the time of retirement, so that future financial security can be ensured.

Clear message for central employees

After this statement of the Central Government, the picture has become completely clear. The return of OPS for employees working under the Center is not on the agenda at present. In such a situation, employees will have to make their financial plan keeping in mind the rules and benefits of NPS and UPS.