Section 4 of The Unified Pension Scheme
(1) A person falling under regulation 3, shall exercise the option for being covered under UPS, before end of the option exercise period in the following manner –
(a) A Central Government employee in service as on 1st April 2025, who is subscribed to NPS shall submit an application to the concerned Drawing and Disbursing Officer (DDO) in Form A2 of Schedule I to enrol in UPS option under NPS in accordance with these regulations;
(b) In case of a new recruit to the Central Government services joining on or after 1stApril 2025, the existing process of enrolment under NPS shall continue. In case such new recruit chooses the UPS option under NPS, such person shall submit an application to the concerned DDO in Form A1 of Schedule I, to enrol in UPS option under NPS in accordance with these regulations; (c) An eligible Central Government employee who has superannuated or retired under Fundamental Rules 56(j) (which is not treated as penalty under Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965), as may be applicable, on or before 31stMarch 2025, and was covered under NPS, shall submit an application in Form B2 of Schedule I along with KYC documents, to the concerned DDO, to avail the benefits under the UPS option, in the manner specified under these regulations;
(d) In case of a deceased Central Government employee who has superannuated or retired under Fundamental Rules 56(j)
(which is not treated as penalty under Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965), as may be applicable, on or before 31stMarch 2025, and was covered under NPS and was eligible to avail benefits under UPS, the legally wedded spouse shall submit an application to the concerned DDO in Form B6 of Schedule I, along with KYC documents, to avail the benefits under the UPS option, when such benefits become due and payable in the manner specified under these regulations.
(2) The Forms listed as A1, A2, B2 and B6 in Schedule I, as may be applicable, may be submitted online through the CRA portal or physically to the Head of Office or DDO.
(3) In case of online submission of Forms through the CRA portal, the CRA shall provide an acknowledgement to such person and simultaneously forward the same to DDO for verification. The DDO shall update the records in CRA system after obtaining necessary details, from the Head of Office and forward the same to the PAO for its authorisation in such system.
(4) In case a person mentioned in sub-regulation (1) is not able to exercise the UPS option through the CRA portal, such person shall have the facility to submit Form physically to the Head of Office directly or through DDO. In such cases, the Head of Office shall forward the option information to the DDO. The DDO shall update the records in the CRA system after obtaining necessary information received from the Head of Office and forward the same to PAO for its authorisation in such system.
(5) A person eligible to exercise option as provided under sub-regulation (1) and who does not exercise the UPS option under NPS within the timelines laid down shall be deemed to have opted to continue under NPS without UPS option.
Section 5 of The Unified Pension Scheme
(1) An employee specified under clause (a) and (b) of sub regulation (1) of regulation 4 who has opted for UPS option under NPS by submitting Forms A1 or A2, as may be applicable and whose application has been duly authorised by the concerned PAO, in the manner specified under the said regulation, shall be identified by a Permanent Retirement Account Number tagged to UPS.
(2) In respect of a person specified under clause (c) and (d) of sub-regulation (1) of regulation 4 and who has opted for UPS option under NPS by submitting Form B2 or B6, as applicable and upon due authorisation by the concerned PAO, shall be identified by his erstwhile PRAN, tagged to UPS.
(3) The CRA shall transfer the individual corpus of UPS Subscriber falling under clause (a) of sub-regulation (1) of regulation 4, upon opting for UPS and after due authorisation by the concerned PAO, to the PRAN tagged to UPS in such manner and within such timelines as may be determined by the Authority.
(4) UPS Subscriber may, in addition to his UPS account, have additional account under NPS (Tier I and Tier II) on a voluntary basis under All Citizen model.