Can Gig Workers And Freelancers Join NPS? Here’s How Registration And Contribution Work

Can Gig Workers And Freelancers Join NPS? Here’s How Registration And Contribution Work

NPS for Gig workers and Freelancers: There's a fundamental shift in the economy, where gig workers and freelancers are increasing, parting ways with the traditional setup of work. A lot of people, especially Gen Zs, are willingly choosing not to tie up with any one particular company or firm, but are offering their services and skills on a project basis for a payment.

This kind of work offers flexibility and freedom to individuals, so they can have a better work-life balance, which people often struggle with in traditional work settings.

India's gig workforce is expected to grow to 23.5 million by 2030, up from 7.7 million in 2020, according to a NITI Aayog estimate.

The development of a new form of work setting is a positive sign for a healthy and booming economy, but it poses another risk for this growing workforce – social and retirement planning security like traditional workers.

While people engaged in the private and public sectors have some social security protection such as NPS (National Pension Scheme) or Provident Fund (PF), most of the time gig workers and freelancers remain out of these protections, be it ignorance or lack of a support system.

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has introduced a new segment for NPS subscribers – Inclusion of Platform Service Partner under the National Pension System (NPS) – “NPS e-shramik (Platform Service Partner) Model."

What Is NPS e-shramik (Platform Service Partner) Model?

Rajesh Khandagale, Senior Vice President, NPS, explains to News18 that PFRDA intends to leverage the ecosystem of aggregators such as Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Ola, Uber, Urban Company, etc., which act as digital intermediaries for facilitating service delivery through their platforms.

“The Platform Service Partner engaged with any Platform Aggregator will form part of this segment," he adds.

What Is The Registration Process?

The registration of Platform Service Partners (like gig workers on Zomato, Swiggy, Ola, Fiverr, etc.) under NPS happens in two stages:

Phase 1 – Quick PRAN Generation

When a worker joins, their basic KYC (Name, Address, PAN, Mobile Number, Bank details) is verified.

KYC can be done via Aadhaar-based eKYC or other approved methods.

If the platform (like Swiggy or Ola) already has this info, it can be reused.

Based on the worker's consent, a Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN) is generated.

The platform or worker can choose the Pension Fund and investment scheme during onboarding (and can change later).

Phase 2 – Completion of Subscriber Information

The worker adds extra details such as father's/mother's name, email ID, and nominee information.

Nominee details must be submitted within 60 days of joining.

What's The Contribution Model?

The contribution structure is similar to the Corporate NPS model.

There are three possible ways contributions can be made:

Jointly – Both Platform Aggregator (e.g., Zomato, Ola) and Service Partner (worker) contribute.

Service Partner-only – Only the worker contributes.

Platform Aggregator-only – Only the company contributes.

• Platform Aggregator/Platform Service Partners are free to fix a minimum contribution for each instance of credit into the individual pension account, for e.g., Rs 99 per month per contribution. The standard minimum contribution for NPS is Rs 500.

• POPs will not charge any contribution or registration fee from Platform Service Partners.

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• The CRA charges are reduced from Rs 100 per annum to Rs 15 p.a.

Platform Service Partners should evaluate their ability to contribute into NPS and make regular contributions to ensure that they get the benefit from the power of compounding, adds Khandagale.

Source: News18
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