PFRDA Targets SVANidhi Beneficiaries Under APY

New Delhi, Aug 25 (PTI) The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) targets to bring 50 lakh PM SVANidhi scheme beneficiaries under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), its Chairman S Ramann said on Monday.

The micro-credit scheme for street vendors -- PM SVANidhi -- was launched by the government on June 1, 2020.

The scheme, under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, provides collateral-free loans up to Rs 50,000 for eligible street vendors in incremental tranches.

Loans are provided in three tranches: first tranche of Rs 10,000, second tranche of Rs 20,000, subject to repayment of the first tranche, and third tranche of Rs 50,000 upon repayment of the second loan.

"We have to tap the PM SVANidhi beneficiaries. PM SVANidhi is one of the greatest success stories of our country," Ramann said.

He said 82 per cent of the persons who availed the first tranche of loan under PM SVANidhi paid back that loan to the bank. And 80 per cent of those 82 per cent were approached by the bank to avail the next tranche.

"We have developed a credit society...It is a very good segment and we must make sure that Atal Pension Yojana (APY) addresses more than 50 lakh people who are now there in PM SVANidhi, and that's a growing number," Ramann said.

Talking about APY beneficiaries, Ramann said in the last 3 years, more than one crore subscribers have been added to APY each year. In 2024-25, over 1.17 crore subscribers were added in APY, of which about 55 per cent were women.

In the first five months (April-August) of this fiscal, already over 50 lakhs subscribers have been added. We expect that we will be able to bring more people into the scheme, he added.

APY was launched on May 9, 2015, as a social security scheme for all Indians, especially the poor, the under-privileged and the workers in the unorganised sector.

From October 1, 2022, income taxpayers are not eligible to join APY.

APY scheme offers a flexible minimum guaranteed pension of Rs 1,000 - Rs 5,000 per month. Accordingly, the per-month subscription amount presently varies from Rs 42 to Rs 1,454 based on the age of joining and pension amount chosen.