Good news for Central govt employees! You can claim additional benefits under UPS if..., download form here...

The Central government NPS subscribers who retired on or before March 31, 2025, with a minimum 10 years of qualifying service, or their legally wedded spouse, can now claim additional benefits under the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), over and above the NPS benefits already claimed, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance on Friday. The additional benefits include a lump sum payment (one time), one-tenth of the last drawn basic pay and dearness allowance thereon, for each completed six months of qualifying service.

A monthly top-up amount is calculated based on admissible UPS payout + Dearness relief (DR) minus the representative annuity amount under the NPS. Besides, they will get arrears with simple interest as per applicable PPF rates. The UPS benefits can be claimed through the physical mode or the online mode. The physical mode entails visiting the DDO & submitting the Form (B2- for the subscriber & B4/B6 – for the legally wedded spouse). The form can be downloaded from the following- www.npscra.nsdl.co.in/ups.php

In the case of the online mode, an eligible person can log on to www.npscra.nsdl.co.in/ups.php to fill out the online form. The last date to claim the benefits is June 30. The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has officially notified the operationalisation of the Unified Pension Scheme under NPS Regulations 2025, which came into effect from April 1, 2025.

These regulations enable the enrolment of three categories of Central government employees. The first category covers existing Central government employees in service as on April 1, 2025, who are covered under the NPS, while the second category includes new recruits in the Central government services, who join service on or after April 1, 2025.

The third category includes Central government employees who were covered under the NPS and who have superannuated or voluntarily retired or have retired under Fundamental Rules 56(j) on or before March 31, 2025 and are eligible for the UPS or the legally wedded spouse in case of a subscriber who has superannuated or retired and has demised prior to exercising the option for the UPS.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from IANS.)