Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority Bill  was passed today in Parliament with several amendments.  Here are the key features of the bill:
1. The Bill Makes Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority a statutory authority. Presently, it has non-statutory status.
2. Some of the key amendments incorporated in the Bill based on the recommendations of the Standing Committee on Finance are as follows:
a) That the subscriber seeking minimum assured returns shall be allowed to opt for investing his funds in such scheme providing minimum assured returns as may be notified by the Authority;
b) Withdrawals will be permitted from the individual pension account subject to the conditions, such as, purpose, frequency and limits, as may be specified by the regulations;
c) The foreign investment in the pension sector at 26% or such percentage as may be approved for the Insurance Sector, whichever is higher;
d) At least one of the pension fund managers shall be from the public sector;
e) To establish a vibrant Pension Advisory Committee with representation from all major stakeholders to advise PFRDA on important matters of framing of regulations under the PFRDA Act.
3. The New Pension Scheme (NPS) has been made mandatory for all the central Government employees (except armed forces) entering service with effect from 1.1.2004.
4. To encourage the people from the un-organised sector to voluntarily save for their retirement, the Government has launched the co-contributory pension scheme titled “Swavalamban Scheme†in the Budget of 2010-11. As on 14th August, 2013, the number of subscribers under NPS is 52.83 Lakh with a corpus of Rs.34, 965 crore.
5. The PFRDA Bill authorizes the PFRDA to establish a Pension Advisory Committee which shall advise the Authority on matters relating to the making of the regulations under the PFRDA Act.