NPS Glossary
The NPS vocabulary in plain language — the accounts, the institutions, the investment terms, and the exit and tax words you will meet across the system.
Accounts and IDs
PRAN
Permanent Retirement Account Number — your unique 12-digit NPS account number, valid for life.
Tier I
The core NPS retirement account, with a lock-in and tax benefits.
Tier II
An optional, flexible savings account with no lock-in and no tax benefit.
NPS Vatsalya
The NPS variant for minors, opened and run by a guardian until the child turns 18.
eNPS
The online portal for registration, contribution, and servicing, run on CRA infrastructure.
D-Remit
Direct Remittance — contributing via a virtual account to get same-day NAV.
Institutions
PFRDA
The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, the statutory regulator of NPS.
NPS Trust
The legal holder of NPS assets, with subscribers as beneficial owners.
CRA
Central Recordkeeping Agency — Protean, KFin, or CAMS — that maintains PRANs and records.
PFM
Pension Fund Manager, the licensed manager that invests your contributions.
PoP
Point of Presence — the bank or intermediary that opens and services accounts.
ASP
Annuity Service Provider — the life insurer that pays your pension at exit.
Trustee Bank
The bank that receives contributions and routes funds to the PFMs.
Custodian
The independent entity that holds NPS securities, separate from the PFMs.
Investment terms
Asset classes (E/C/G)
Equity (E), Corporate debt (C) and Government securities (G). Alternatives (A) was merged into Schemes C and E in December 2025.
Active Choice
You set the percentage split across the asset classes yourself.
Auto Choice
An age-based lifecycle fund that tapers equity as you get older.
Lifecycle funds (LC75/50/25)
Auto Choice funds capping early-career equity at 75%, 50%, or 25%.
Balanced Life Cycle Fund
An Auto Choice option introduced in October 2024, carrying higher equity into the mid-40s and 50s.
Multiple Scheme Framework (MSF)
A 2025 framework letting one PRAN hold several schemes, with up to 100% equity.
NAV
Net Asset Value — the per-unit price of a scheme, updated each business day.
Scheme preference
Your chosen PFM, choice type, and asset allocation.
Exit and annuity
Superannuation
Normal exit from NPS at age 60 or the defined retirement age.
Premature exit
Exit before superannuation, directing a larger share of the corpus to annuity.
Partial withdrawal
Taking part of your own contributions before exit, for permitted reasons.
Annuity
A lifelong pension bought from an ASP with part of the corpus at exit.
SLW
Systematic Lump Sum Withdrawal — drawing the lump sum in phased instalments up to age 85.
Continuation / Deferment
Keeping the account open, or delaying the lump sum or annuity, up to 85.
Corpus
The total accumulated value of your NPS account at any point.
Tax and rules
80CCD(1)
Deduction for your own NPS contribution, within the overall 80C ceiling.
80CCD(1B)
An extra deduction of up to ₹50,000, over and above 80C.
80CCD(2)
Deduction for employer NPS contributions; also available under the new tax regime.
KYC
Know Your Customer — the identity and address verification required to operate an account.
Inter-Sector Shifting (ISS)
Moving a PRAN between the Government, Corporate, and All Citizen models.
CGMS
Central Grievance Management System — the CRA platform for lodging complaints.
Vesting age
The age at which normal exit and pension benefits become available, generally 60.
Definitions are compiled from PFRDA, the NPS Trust, and CRA glossaries and reflect the 2025 framework changes. They are simplified for general understanding.
NPS Desk is an independent educational platform and is not affiliated with PFRDA, the NPS Trust, or any CRA. Rules and figures change — verify on the official PFRDA, NPS Trust, or CRA channels before acting.
Read the guides
Turn these terms into decisions with the NPS Guides, or check the FAQs for quick answers.