PSU banks big laggards in pension plan push

Not counting the State Bank of India, public sector banks which were billed to be the key agents in expanding the scope and size of the New Pension System as a powerful distribution networks have had a poor start months after they started on the path, reports Sandeep Singh.

Not counting the State Bank of India, public sector banks which were billed to be the key agents in expanding the scope and size of the New Pension System as a powerful distribution networks have had a poor start months after they started on the path.

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In the first seven months since the NPS was launched under promotion efforts of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), three of them have not even managed to get a single subscriber to the list, which as on December 4 had not more than 2,818 subscribers.

“We have raised the concern with the respective bank CEOs who say that they have some operational issues,” said Rani S Nair, executive director, PFRDA.

Private sector ICICI Bank, followed by the HDFC Bank-led Computer Age Management Services (CAMS), besides the SBI, have been leading performers in roping in customers to join the NPS, which is a government-initiated measure to help millions of Indians gain social security and pension benefits through an independent, reliable mechanism.

Union Bank of India, State Bank of Travancore and State Bank of Indore have scored zero in the NPS push. There are four others who are in single digits and if SBI is excluded then the number of subscribers added by 10 public sector undertaking (PSU) banks is only 72. However, PFRDA is not looking for any sort of penal action on the non performers.

“They have to be committed to the cause of selling NPS and putting a penal provision on them for non performance won’t help,” said Nair.