PENSION FUND REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

CIRCULAR

PFRDA/2026/15/REG-PF/04 06th March 2026

To: CEOs of all Pension Funds CEO of NPS Trust All NPS Stakeholders

Subject: Investment Management Fee (IMF) and Annual Fee for Pension Funds w.e.f. 01 April 2026 (for a period of five years)

1. The current Investment Management Fee (IMF) charged by Pension Funds (PFs) to subscribers is valid for a period of five years ending on 31 March 2026. The existing IMF framework does not differentiate between Government Sector (GS) and Non-Government sector (NGS) subscribers based on the IMF payable by them.

2. In order to review the IMF structure, PFRDA constituted an Expert Committee under the chairmanship of Shri U. K. Sinha, former Chairperson of SEBI. Based on the Committee’s recommendations and subsequent approval of the PFRDA Board, the revised IMF structure has been approved and shall come into effect from 01 April 2026 for a period of five years.

3. There shall be no change in the IMF applicable to Government sector subscribers under composite schemes. Further, Government sector subscribers who have opted for individual investment choices, namely Auto Choice or Active Choice (with 100% allocation to Government securities), shall be charged the same IMF as applicable to those Subscribers who are under composite schemes.

4. The revised IMF structure continues to have slab-based differentiated rates for Government and Non-Government sector subscribers.

5. The IMF for the period of 5 years effective from 1st April 2026 is as under:

Table A: IMF for Non-Government Sector Subscribers (NGS)

Table B: IMF for Government Sector Subscribers (GS) – Existing Slab Continues

The scheme-wise applicability of IMF is detailed in the Annexure.

6. The Annual Fee payable by Pension Funds to the Authority shall remain unchanged. Accordingly, PFs shall continue to pay an annual fee of 0.015% p.a. of the AUM or ₹10,00,000 per annum, whichever is higher, plus applicable taxes and levies. The Annual fee is payable quarterly @0.00375% of the AUM, based on the AUM as on the last day of the preceding quarter or Rs. 2,50,000/-, whichever is higher.

7. Further, with a view to enhancing NPS outreach and promoting pension literacy, PFRDA shall allocate 0.0025% of AUM per annum to the Association of NPS Intermediaries (ANI). This amount shall be disbursed on a quarterly basis at 0.000625% of AUM (based on the AUM as on the last day of the preceding quarter) to support sustained outreach initiatives. ANI shall act in close coordination with PFRDA for promoting NPS.

8. This circular is issued in exercise of the powers conferred upon the Authority under Section 14(1) read with Section 14(2)(m) of the PFRDA Act, 2013, along with sub-regulation (2) of Regulation 19 and Regulation 13 of the PFRDA (Pension Fund) Regulations, 2015

Yours faithfully,

K MOHAN GANDHI Chief General Manager

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Annexure

List of Schemes with the Government and Non-Government IMF Structure