Expanding Pension Horizons: PFRDA Targets Street Vendors for APY Growth

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) aims to integrate 50 lakh PM SVANidhi scheme beneficiaries into the Atal Pension Yojana (APY). PM SVANidhi provides loans to street vendors, and PFRDA sees it as a successful segment to bolster APY subscriptions, having already welcomed over 1 crore members annually.

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has set an ambitious target: to enroll 50 lakh beneficiaries of the PM SVANidhi scheme under the Atal Pension Yojana (APY), according to Chairman S Ramann's announcement on Monday.

Launched in June 2020, the PM SVANidhi scheme offers collateral-free loans to street vendors, providing them in incremental tranches of Rs 10,000, Rs 20,000, and Rs 50,000. PFRDA sees the scheme as a considerable success, with 82% of initial loan recipients repaying their debts, and many of them being encouraged to proceed to subsequent loans.

PFRDA's focus is to leverage this success story and ensure that the APY scheme reaches over 50 lakh participants from the PM SVANidhi initiative. With more than one crore subscribers joining APY every year, the initiative is particularly inclusive of women, who make up 55% of the recent additions, driven by a flexible pension offering Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 monthly.