Portability of PRAN -NPS

PFRDA Orders -  Portability of PRAN – NPS Lite/Swavalamban to NPS – All Citizen Model and other sectors

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority

CIRCULAR

PFRDA/2013/13 /PDEX/08 

20th August 2013

Subject: Portability of PRAN – NPS Lite/Swavalamban to NPS – All Citizen Model and other sectors

There were several requests from NPS Lite/Swavalamban subscribers seeking porting of their PRANs from NPS Lite/Swavalamban to the All Citizen Model of NPS(UOS). PFRDA after examining the matter has approved the shifting/porting of NPS/Lite/Swavalamban accounts to NPS-All Citizen model and other Sectors through an Inter platform shift process which is detailed as below:

1. The subscriber has to submit the following documents to the new nodal office (POP/PAO/DDO etc) who in turn will process the application and forward the document to CRA.

a. Duly filled in Inter platform shift (IPTR-1) form along with the duly filled in registration form of the sector to which he wishes to migrate

b. Submit the PRAN already issued and in absence of PRAN has to provide a notorised affidavit as to the reasons for non-submission.

2. CRA upon receipt of request would initiate the process for creation of new Permanent Retirement Account (PRA) with new PRAN for the subscriber on the target platform and disable the earlier PRAN of the subscriber in the system. The earlier/old PRAN would not be allotted to anybody else in the system. Also, the earlier record would be tagged to the new account for audit trail as well as for knowing information like if the subscriber has availed Swavalamban benefit under the earlier PRAN or not etc.

3. CRA would issue necessary instructions for monetization of the accumulated corpus in the old/earlier PRAN and also necessary instructions for crediting of such accumulated corpus received upon monetization into the new PRAN account. The entire activity would be a controlled activity from CRA end.

4. There would not be any requirement of providing KYC documents once again by the subscriber, if the same have been submitted/collated at the time of subscriber registration under NPS already and the address provided in the new registration for is matching with that of existing record. If there is any change in the address from the existing NPS account address proof need to be submitted afresh. The CRA would tag the KYC documents to the new PRAN and ensure that all the required details are available.

5. CRA would print and dispatch the PRAN card directly to the subscriber/aggregator as the case may be and CRA would not be charging any extra charges for the same.

Subscribers intending to shift their PRAN from NPS Lite/Swavalamban to All Citizen Model and other sectors may approach the new/intended contribution uploading office (POP/PAO/DDO etc) for doing the needful on the matter. The format for Inter platform shift (IPTR-1) form is being attached along with the circular.

sd/-

Venkateswarlu Peri

General Manager

Source: www.pfrda.org.in

[http://pfrda.org.in/writereaddata/linkimages/Circular%20on%20Inter%20platfrom%20Shifting837264889.pdf]

Food portals open up options for train travellers (Foodie Trail)

insipid train food and is forced to binge on chips and biscuits. But not anymore, thanks to food portals that deliver to her favourite chicken pizza at her seat, guaranteed hot and fresh.
"Travelling is easier now as I can now eat whatever I like instead of the watery dal and bland subzis served by the pantry and are a sorry excuse for food," Kapoor, a student of Jawaharlal Nehru University here, told IANS.
Continental, Chinese, Italian, Mughlai and even fast food, varied cuisines are on offer by portals like comesum.com, travelkhana.com and merafoodchoice.com.
These portals, who have partnered with restaurants across the country, give their customers the freedom to order food from any famous eatery along the route.
The meals can be booked online or through phone by submitting train details or the passenger name record (PNR) number.
The customer can then choose any restaurant en route the destination and the meal is delivered at a pre-decided station. Payment can be made online as well as on delivery.
"Today's customers are quality conscious and know better than just to pick up food from an average hawker, they look more at multi cuisine delicacies," Abhishek Agrawal, managing director at Comesum, told IANS.
Comesum, started 40 years ago as railway caterers and apart from delivering meals in trains also operates 25 multi-cuisine food plazas that are open 24X7 round the year at railway and Metro stations in Delhi and around the country.
"We offer different cuisines to our customers but Indian food especially thalis (meal made of selection of several dishes) are quite favourite," said Agrawal adding that the cost of a thali ranges between Rs.80 and Rs.150 depending on the food items selected.
While Comesum offers food prepared at its own outlets, travelkhana.com and merafoodchoice.com have partnered with restaurants and eateries.
Travelkhana.com, which started operations in Aug 2012, has tied up with over 200 restaurants and caterers at over 80 stations and has delivered food to about 60,000 passengers.
"Indian Railways is the lifeline of passengers but the quality of food leaves a lot to be desired... we provide fresh food across all major trains and you won't have to depend on the pantry food anymore," Travelkhana CEO Pushpinder Singh told IANS.
The Indian Railways ferries 23 million travellers and 2.65 million tonnes of goods daily on 12,000 passenger and 7,000 freight trains. The network is spread over 64,000 route km and has 7,083 stations.
At present, only 302 trains have pantry cars.
Describing Travelkhana's functioning, Pushpinder Singh said that GPS-enabled mobile applications keeps them updated about train delays and diversions. In case an order does not reach the passenger at a particular station, it is delivered at the next one.
Serving both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food, Pushpinder Singh has his eyes set on expanding to 30 new stations soon as well collaborating with more outlets.
"We are in talks with McDonalds," he said.
Meanwhile, Nashik based merafoodchoice.com, which started in Nov 2012 offers only vegetarian meals and specialises in thalis from different states.
"We are trying to promote the Indian food culture and offer thalis of various states," said founder Piyush Kasliwal adding that the portal is offering its services at 145 stations across the country and has so far catered to over 30,000 clients.
"The vegetarian thali, is priced between Rs.100 and Rs.200 and the customers don't mind the pricing because they know that they are getting quality food," added Kasliwal, who now plans to expand to 200 stations.
With several complaints against the food served in trains, the portals have definitely come to the rescue of the people.
Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge recently told the Lok Sabha that 1,279 complaints about sub-standard food were received in 2012, of which 115 were for lack of hygienic conditions in superfast premier trains like the Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express.
So, the next time you travel on a train, remember that your favourite butter chicken or masala dosa or chicken manchurian is just a call or a click away.