Chhattisgarh govt asks PFRDA to return Rs 17,240 crore for old pension scheme rollout

The Chhattisgarh government has written a letter to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) asking it to refund the money deposited towards the National Pension System (NPS) since November 2004 along with accruals, officials said on Saturday.

In a letter to the Chairman of PFRDA, New Delhi on Friday, state's Finance Secretary Alarmelmangai D said the Chhattisgarh government has decided to reinstate the old pension scheme (OPS) and therefore, the demand is being made to implement the decision.

After the state cabinet approved the decision to restore the OPS that was effective before November 1, 2004, a gazette notification was published in this regard. The monthly contribution of employer and employee to the NPS accounts of employees has also been stopped with effect from April 1 this year, the letter stated.

A new GPF (General Provident Fund) account has been opened by the state government for every employee registered with NPS, it said.

"As per the data available with the state government, Rs 11,850 crore (employee and employer contribution) has been transferred by it to the National Securities Deposit Limited (NSDL) during the period from November 1, 2004 to March 31, 2022. The current market value of this amount is about Rs 17,240 crore," it said.

The finance secretary further requested the PFRDA to refund the amount soon according to its present market value citing that it will be used to meet future pension liabilities and will be kept in a separate pension fund under the Public Account of the state government.

The finance secretary has also informed that the principal amount contributed by the employees in their NPS accounts will be transferred to the Chhattisgarh GPF accounts of the employees, it said.

Under the rules of the Chhattisgarh General Provident Fund, interest will be payable by the state government with effect from November 1, 2004 as per interest-related instructions issued from time to time, it said.

The difference in the current market value of the employee contribution made to NPS and the principal amount contributed by the employees will be used to credit the interest payable in the GPF accounts, it said.