The National Pension System (NPS) is a government-backed, market-linked retirement scheme that combines powerful tax savings with long-term wealth creation — for individuals, employees, and businesses.
* Subscriber count as of Feb 2026, NPS only (excl. APY). NPS is a market-linked product. Investments are subject to market risk. Past performance does not guarantee future returns. This website introduces prospective subscribers to PensionBox (Asht Capital Pvt Ltd), a PFRDA Pension Agent. PensionBox works as a Technology Platform as Pension Agent under PFRDA (PoP) Regulations 2023, enabling NPS account opening, fund transactions, and account management under All Citizen and Corporate NPS in India. No advisory services are offered on this website.
Launched by the Government of India in 2004 and extended to all citizens in 2009, the NPS is a voluntary, defined-contribution retirement scheme regulated by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
NPS is unlike a traditional fixed deposit or PPF. Your contributions are invested across equity (E), corporate bonds (C), and government securities (G) based on your chosen allocation. (Alternative assets such as AIFs have been merged into E and C since December 2025.)
Each subscriber gets a unique Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN), which remains yours for life. The account is completely portable across jobs and cities.
At normal exit (age 60 or later), non-government subscribers can withdraw up to 80% as lump sum (minimum 20% for annuity if corpus > ₹12 lakh). Smaller corpus allows 100% lump sum.
Equity (E), Corporate Bonds (C), Government Securities (G)
HDFC, SBI, ICICI, Kotak, UTI, LIC, Aditya Birla & more
Up to 80% lump sum for non-government subscribers at exit (slab-based)
One lifelong account, portable across jobs and locations
Supervised by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, India's independent pension regulator under Parliament Act.
Equity-oriented funds have historically delivered strong long-term performance. Past returns do not guarantee future performance. NPS is market-linked and subject to investment risk.
Investment management fees as low as 0.04%–0.12% p.a. (slab-based, from April 2026) + PoP charges of ~0.20% p.a. — still among the lowest total costs of any retirement product in India.
Auto Choice: Asset allocation shifts automatically as you age. Active Choice: You decide how much goes into equity vs bonds.
Non-Resident Indians can open and maintain NPS accounts using NRE/NRO bank accounts and repatriate maturity proceeds.
Every NPS subscriber gets a Tier I account by default. Tier II is an optional add-on. They serve fundamentally different purposes — here's how to use both wisely.
Long-term, tax-advantaged core account.
Voluntary, liquid, no tax benefit (except for Central Govt. employees).
NPS offers some of the most powerful tax deductions available to Indian taxpayers — across multiple sections of the Income Tax Act. Here's a clear breakdown for both regimes.
Own contributions to NPS Tier I are deductible under Section 80C, combined with other 80C investments like PPF, ELSS, life insurance premiums.
An exclusive deduction available only for NPS — over and above the ₹1.5L limit under 80C. This is the most unique tax benefit of NPS.
Employer contribution (up to 10% of basic+DA for private; 14% for Central Govt. employees) is tax-free in the hands of the employee — with no upper cap in terms of deduction limit.
This is the one NPS deduction available under the new regime. If your employer contributes to your NPS, that amount is deductible — making corporate NPS extremely tax-efficient even under the new regime.
No deduction available for your own NPS contributions under the new tax regime. Section 80C, 80CCD(1), and 80CCD(1B) are not applicable.
A salaried individual in the 30% tax bracket using both 80C (₹1.5L) and 80CCD(1B) (₹50,000) can save ₹52,000+ in taxes annually (including 4% cess). Over 25 years, this reinvested tax saving compounds dramatically.
| Tax Slab | Own Contribution Saving (₹2L) | With Employer Contribution (₹1L) | Total Annual Saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30% bracket | ₹62,400 | ₹31,200 | ₹93,600 |
| 20% bracket | ₹41,600 | ₹20,800 | ₹62,400 |
| 10% bracket | ₹20,800 | ₹10,400 | ₹31,200 |
* Including 4% health & education cess. Employer contribution assumed at ₹1L/year example. Actual savings depend on salary structure and contributions.
Corporate NPS allows businesses to offer NPS as an employee benefit. It's a triple-win: the company saves tax, employees build retirement wealth, and promoters get enhanced personal benefits.
Employer's NPS contribution (up to 10% of basic+DA) is excluded from the employee's taxable income under Section 80CCD(2) — even under the new tax regime. It's essentially free money on top of salary.
Employees can still claim the extra ₹50,000 under 80CCD(1B) on their own NPS contributions under the old regime — on top of employer contributions.
The PRAN stays with the employee even when they change companies. Corporate NPS accumulations don't disappear like some gratuity/provident fund structures.
Market-linked NPS corpus typically grows significantly more than EPF/Gratuity alone over long periods, especially with equity fund allocation in younger years.
A working promoter/director on the company's payroll can structure their compensation so the company contributes 10–14% of basic salary into NPS. This reduces personal taxable income with zero actual cash outflow beyond normal salary.
The employer NPS contribution is a deductible business expense under Section 36(1)(iva) of the Income Tax Act. The company's taxable profit reduces — lowering corporate tax.
Unlike dividends (taxed) or higher salary (taxed at slab rate), channeling funds into NPS via employer contribution grows a retirement corpus with significantly lower tax friction.
Corporate NPS is not restricted to large companies. MSMEs, startups, and even proprietary firms can register as an entity with PFRDA and offer Corporate NPS.
Offering Corporate NPS signals long-term commitment to employees, especially in mid-senior hiring where retirement planning is a decision factor.
Employer contributions up to 10% of basic+DA per employee are fully deductible — reducing both corporate tax and overall payroll cost when structured correctly.
PFRDA has simplified Corporate NPS registration. Contributions are made monthly via NSDL/Karvy portals. No complex auditing requirements beyond standard payroll.
Open your NPS account instantly through our trusted partner PensionBox — paperless, fast, and fully PFRDA-authorised.
Open NPS via PensionBox →PensionBox (Asht Capital Pvt Ltd) · PFRDA Pension Agent | PFRDA Helpline: 1800 110 708 (Toll-Free)