Atal Pension Yojana accounts of THESE income tax payers to be closed; details

The requirements for opening an Atal Pension Yojana (APY) account will change as of October 1, 2022. Income taxpayers won't be permitted to join the Atal Pension plan beginning on October 1, 2022. The central government has made it clear that an income taxpayer's account may be cancelled if they open an APY account under the APY scheme. As a result, income taxpayers who join the APY programme in and after October 2022 will have their APY accounts cancelled. 

In this regard, a notification was released by the Department of Financial Services under the Ministry of Finance, citing "If a subscriber who joined on or after 1 October 2022 is later discovered to have been an income-tax payer on or before the date of application, the APY account shall be closed and the subscriber will receive the accrued pension wealth to date, with the proviso that beginning on October 1, 2022, any citizen who is or has been an income-tax payer shall not be eligible to join APY. 

In this sentence, the term "income-tax payer" "must refer to a person who must pay income tax in accordance with the Income Tax Act of 1961, as modified. 

The APY plan intends to give social security to those employed in the unorganised sector because those employed in such sectors are typically low-income individuals. The minimum guaranteed pension under this social security programme ranges from $1,000 to $5,000 per month, depending on the subscriber's contribution, starting at age 60. After the subscriber passes away, the subscriber's spouse will receive the same pension, and if both the subscriber and spouse pass away, the nominee will receive the subscriber's pension worth up to the age of 60. 

The action taken by the central government would aid in preventing abuse of the social security programme and assist in connecting the pension programme with its intended beneficiaries.