ICICI Bank launches NPS Vatsalya pension account for minors; key features, other details to kow

ICICI Bank on Wednesday announced the launch of NPS Vatsalya, a pension scheme aimed at securing the financial future of children, at its service centre at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in 
Mumbai. The new pension scheme, to be operated under the aegis of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), was proposed in the first Budget of the Narendra Modi 3.0 government in July. The NPS Vatsalya scheme allows parents or guardians to build corpuses for their minor children until they attain 18 years of age. Upon attaining adulthood, the subscriber can convert the NPS Vatsalya account into a normal NPS account.

ICICI Bank said its announcement of the scheme is aligned with the government’s formal launch across the country by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in New Delhi on Wednesday. The private sector lender inaugurated the commencement of the scheme by registering the accounts of a few children under NPS Vatsalya.

It also provided symbolic Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) cards to the children. 

“We are delighted to be part of the NPS Vatsalya launch scheme with the Government of India and PFRDA. We have begun this journey by opening our first set of NPS Vatsalya accounts today. We have equipped all ICICI Bank business centres across the country to open the NPS Vatsalya account for customers," said Sriram H, Head-Deposit Products at ICICI Bank. 

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"This account helps in long-term wealth creation, ensuring that by the time the minor becomes an adult, there is a financial corpus in place for them," he said.

Here are some of the key features of ICICI Bank's Vatsalya NPS account:

• Eligibility criteria: Any minor (below 18 years of age) having a PAN card and an Aadhaar card is eligible 
• Minimum contribution: A minimum of Rs 1,000 per year can be contributed with no limit on maximum contribution
• Contributors: Parents or guardians can contribute on behalf of their children
• Transition after the age of 18: The minor’s NPS account will transition to a standard NPS account after the submission of the required KYC documents