The Finance Ministry has announced a one-time opportunity for central government employees who had initially opted for the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) to switch back to the National Pension System (NPS). This option is available until September 30, 2025, and is aimed at providing employees with greater clarity and flexibility in their retirement planning.
The option to move from UPS to NPS can be exercised only once.
Employees cannot revert to UPS after making the switch.
Eligible employees may apply either one year before superannuation or three months prior to voluntary retirement.
The facility is not available for employees facing dismissal, removal, compulsory retirement as a penalty, or ongoing disciplinary proceedings.
Those who do not act before the deadline will remain in UPS by default.
Introduced on April 1, 2025, UPS serves as an alternative to NPS for central government staff, offering assured retirement benefits:
Minimum monthly payout of ₹10,000 for employees completing at least 10 years of qualifying service, subject to regular contributions and no withdrawals.
In the event of the pensioner's death after superannuation, 60% of the last pension amount is payable to the legally recognized spouse.
The guaranteed payout does not apply if the employee resigns, is dismissed, terminated, or retires before completing 10 years of service.
The Finance Ministry emphasized that this switch mechanism is unidirectional: once employees move back to NPS, they cannot opt for UPS again.