rediffGURU T S Khurana answers readers' personal income tax queries
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday introduced the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which aims to provide tax exemptions to subscribers of the Unified Pension Scheme.
A record amount of pension money may be finding its way into the stock market, if buying figures in the National Stock Exchange (NSE) data are any indication. Category inflows touched Rs 37,409 crore for the three months ending September 2025, shows an analysis of NSE data.
Ask rediffGURU and PF and MF expert Janak Patel your mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
"The pension amount is too meagre. Even in some cases it is less than Rs 200 per month. There is serious discontent and industrial unrest among the workers, " HMS secretary A D Nagpal said in a letter to the labour minister M Mallikarjun Kharge. Asking the government to address the anomalies in the scheme, Nagpal demanded that pension amount should be reasonably increased and the benefits which were withdrawn should be restored.
Employees' Pension Scheme has been asked to fold up and hand over subscribers to National Pension System
Institutions that are supposed to promote and sell the product are more or less clueless about it even though it has been a month since the scheme was launched on May 1. Only few of the institutions that have been nominated to help investors enrol are aware of the procedures. There were no designated help desks. At best, one could only get the form.
'The informal sector can grow at a 100 per cent rate -- we have to plan big.'
The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) board has approved liberalised part withdrawals for subscribers, allowing up to 100 per cent EPF withdrawal, and rolled out the 'Vishwas Scheme' to reduce litigation through rationalised penal damages.
The New Pension Scheme is one of the more ambitious programmes tried out by the government. If successful, it has the power to transform India's savings habits.
Around 24 paise will come from borrowings and other liabilities, 10 paise from non-tax revenue like disinvestment, and 2 paise from non-debt capital receipts, the Budget documents showed.
Here are the answers to six most relevant questions you MUST know about the New Pension Scheme.
The roll-out of the auto enrollment began in October 2012.
The National Pension System is applicable for government employees joining the service after April 1, 2004. It was based on the premise of contribution rather than defined benefit applicable for employees prior to the NPS.
Till a few days ago, executives at the banks that have been designated points of presence to register subscribers and receive contributions, did not even know about the scheme.
Among its 27 recommendations for the Union Budget is this: It has suggested that equity investments held for more than one year and up to three years should be taxed at 12.5 per cent on gains exceeding 2 lakh in a financial year.
Sebi is working with other regulators to expand the CAS framework.
Who pays what into EPF, EPS, and EDLI -- the 12% math explained.
The change in the government's engagement with the economy's need for reforms is more nuanced than how analysts have so far perceived it, points out A K Bhattacharya.
Let's decode how EPS works, who qualifies, and how pensions are calculated, using simple examples for different salary levels.
India's state-level fiscal rules have improved headline deficits, but the gains are fragile and uneven with major states still grappling with high debt levels, a World Bank report submitted to the 16th Finance Commission (FC) said. According to the report, despite nearly two decades of adoption of fiscal responsibility laws (FRLs), debt levels have not converged.
From April 1, subscribers will be able to change investment option & asset allocation twice a year, instead of once. Use greater flexibility offered by pension scheme judiciously.
The government on Sunday gave a strong push to upgradation and expansion of healthcare infrastructure, medical education and pharma sector with the Union Budget 2026-27 announcing a slew of steps, including those aimed at making India a global hub for allied healthcare professionals and biopharma manufacturing.
In 2025-26, the government allocated Rs 6,81,210 crore for defence budget.
The Life Insurance Corporation of India, who was supposed to launch the much-awaited Varishtha Pension Bima Yojana from Tuesday, has postponed the scheme indefinitely.\n\n
'There is a challenge in repositioning yourself, maybe reinventing yourself.'
The Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) adoption rate has risen to over 4.35 per cent, with more than 100,000 people out of 2.3 million eligible individuals opting for it, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) chairman S Ramann said in an exclusive interview with Business Standard on Monday. He also said that six states had approached the PFRDA for help in adoption of the scheme.
The most common mistake is investing without assessing suitability and long-term implications.
Another populist decision of the government was the announcement of an unemployment allowance for the youth: Rs 1,000 per month for two years for graduates and those who have completed class 12 but remain unemployed.
India's market regulator is moving ahead to include real estate investment trusts (Reits) in benchmark indices in a phased manner, Sebi chief Tuhin Kanta Pandey said, while asserting that the regulator was working to strengthen the link between infrastructure building and the markets.
'Stay invested but progressively reduce risk. Beyond a point, the objective should shift from maximising returns to avoiding unpleasant surprises.'
'These changes are expected to eliminate many data-entry problems that make the return filing process cumbersome in the current system.'
Hailed as a revolutionary offering, the NPs has found few takers even after a year of its launch.
Interim pension regulator PFRDA will launch from December this year its savings scheme, which aims to give greater returns on the deposits, and can be withdrawn fully.
India is growing fast, but to keep growing strong, the government must make more things at home, create jobs, and spend money wisely, suggests Rajiv Memani, regional managing partner, Africa-India Region, EY.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
He will hold the office till February 9, 2027.
EPF doesn't just build your retirement fund -- it also provides free life insurance up to Rs 7 lakh under the EDLI scheme.
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