New Delhi: The Indian government rolled out the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) under the National Pension System (NPS) starting April 1, 2025. The UPS was designed to bring together features of both the old pension plan and the current NPS, promising a steady pension like the old plan for central government employees. However, not many people seem interested in the UPS so far, so the government has pushed back the sign-up deadline from June 30 to September 30, 2025.
Even though UPS combines benefits from old and new pension systems, it hasn’t really caught on with central government workers. Because of this low interest, officials are talking about possibly making the scheme better—like increasing its benefits—to attract more people. Right now, the government is waiting and watching to see what changes, if any, are needed.
Recently, in Parliament, some members of parliament asked if the government was planning changes to the UPS. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman replied that there are no plans to extend these benefits to other pension schemes or sectors for now. The focus remains on improving the UPS for the employees it was meant to serve.
Currently, 25,756 retired central government employees could get extra benefits under UPS. According to the Finance Minister, this covers those who retired, passed away, or were retired by March 31, 2025, after at least 10 years of service under the NPS.
Claims data shows that, as of July 20, 2025, the government received 7,253 requests for UPS benefits and approved 4,978. UPS covers retirement and death gratuity payments (one-time lump sums given after retirement or death) according to current rules.
Additionally, if a government employee who chose UPS passes away while working or is forced to retire from disability or health reasons, their family can get benefits under existing pension rules. Tax benefits for UPS are also the same as NPS.
Despite being set up in response to political demands and complaints over the old pension scheme, very few have switched from NPS to UPS. Only about 1.35%—roughly 31,555 out of 2.3 million NPS employees—opted for UPS by July 20. Most employees seem to prefer the flexibility and tax perks offered by NPS. If someone doesn’t act by the extended September deadline, they will keep their NPS account permanently.
The pension authority (PFRDA) said it only tracks overall figures for UPS and not state-by-state or month-by-month data, and doesn’t separate information for top-level officers. Only national totals are available.
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