All Citizen Model

The NPS has several models. Each one is for a different kind of subscriber:

• the Government model is for government staff;
• the Corporate model is for staff of employers that offer it;
• the Atal Pension Yojana is for workers in the unorganised sector;
• the All Citizen Model is for everyone else.

So who uses the All Citizen Model? The self-employed professional. The shopkeeper. The salaried person whose employer has not signed up. The NRI who plans to retire in India.

The subscriber signs on directly. They make voluntary contributions, which means they choose when and how much to pay in.

What sets this model apart is that the subscriber does it all. They choose the recordkeeper, the pension fund and the investment mix. They also pay the charges on both the Tier I and Tier II accounts.

Who is eligible. Any citizen of India, resident or non-resident, within the age limits, subject to KYC and applicable requirements; OCI cardholders are also permitted. NRIs and OCIs may open a Tier I account but not a Tier II account. Contributions may be made through inward remittance or the NRE/NRO account, and payouts are in rupees, with repatriation subject to FEMA and RBI rules. Undischarged insolvents and persons of unsound mind are disqualified.

Choices the subscriber makes. The CRA, the pension fund, and the investment option — Active Choice or Auto Choice. Under Active Choice, a Tier I subscriber in this model may appoint up to 3 pension funds by asset class (other than asset class A). The investment option and asset allocation may be changed four times a financial year.

Charges. Borne by the subscriber. The PoP charge from 1 January 2026 is 0.20 percent per annum of AUM, and in March 2026 the charges for non-government legal entities were moved to the same AUM-based structure as the All Citizen model.

Exit.

A subscriber may continue or defer benefits up to 85.

Feeder schemes. An NPS Vatsalya account converts to the All Citizen Model when the child turns 18, and NPS Sanchay is a simplified variant of it for the informal sector.

Illustrative figures. Farhan, a chartered accountant in private practice, joined the All Citizen Model at 38. At 60 his Tier I corpus is Rs 50 lakh.

Normal exit. The corpus exceeds Rs 12 lakh, so the 80/20 rule applies:

Maximum lump sum / systematic withdrawal = 80% × 50,00,000 = Rs 40,00,000
Minimum for annuity                      = 20% × 50,00,000 = Rs 10,00,000

His sister Naaz, same model, corpus Rs 10 lakh. She falls in the Rs 8–12 lakh band and has a choice:

What he paid along the way. At the AUM-based PoP charge of 0.20 percent a year, on the Rs 50 lakh corpus in his final year:

0.20% × 50,00,000 = Rs 10,000

— borne by Farhan, as all charges in this model are. A Government-model subscriber's Tier I costs are paid by the government.

Had he left at 45 — before 15 years of subscription and before 60 — it would have been a premature exit: at most 20 percent as lump sum and at least 80 percent to annuity.

Chapter 4, section 4.1.2 (Models under the NPS), defines the All Citizen Model against the Government, Corporate and APY models; sections 4.1.5, 4.2.4 and 4.4.1 give eligibility and exit rules; section 4.1.4 the charges. Chapter 9 repeats the exit regulations. Expect questions on who bears the charges, the 15-years-or-60 normal-exit rule, the Rs 8 lakh / Rs 12 lakh corpus bands, and NRI/OCI eligibility for Tier I but not Tier II.

• The workbook gives two different entry ages. Section 4.1.5 says any citizen "between 0 years and 85 years"; section 4.4.1 and the NPS Sanchay description say 18 to 85. Minors are covered by NPS Vatsalya, which converts to the All Citizen Model at 18 — read 18 as the entry age for this model, and note the conflict.
• The workbook also conflicts on multiple accounts. Section 4.4.1 says a person can hold only one NPS account, and section 4.1.5 disqualifies a person who already holds one; Chapter 4's introduction says a subscriber may have multiple NPS accounts with different CRAs under separate PRANs under one PAN, which the Multiple Scheme Framework also permits.
• Normal exit is 15 years or 60, whichever is earlier — not whichever is later.
• The subscriber bears all charges, Tier I and Tier II. In the Government model the government pays the Tier I costs.
• NRIs and OCIs: Tier I yes, Tier II no.
• The 5-year lock-in for premature exit has been removed under this model.
• 80/20 is at normal exit; 20/80 at premature exit. The percentages flip.
• Tax exemption on the lump sum is stated at 60 percent of the amount payable (section 4.5), even though up to 80 percent may now be withdrawn; the workbook does not spell out the treatment of the difference.