Few important terms related to Unified Pension Scheme UPS

1. What is Individual Corpus in UPS

• "The monthly contribution of the UPS Subscriber shall be ten percent. of the basic pay .... and dearness allowance thereon, which shall be credited to the individual PRAN of UPS Subscriber."

• "The monthly contribution of the UPS Subscriber shall be matched by the Central Government by crediting an equal amount, to the individual PRAN of the UPS subscriber."
  

Individual Corpus = Employee's contribution (10% of Basic + DA) + Employer's contribution (Equal to Employee's contribution i.e. 10% of Basic + DA)

2. What is Pool Corpus in UPS

The Pool Corpus shall comprise of:

• "additional Central Government contribution at an estimated eight and half percent. of Basic Pay ... plus Dearness Allowance, on aggregate basis of all employees who have chosen the UPS option"

• "transfer of balance from the individual corpus of a subscriber as per regulation 19 (3)"

"Provided that in case the individual corpus is more than the benchmark corpus as on the date of superannuation ......., as may be applicable, the final withdrawal amount shall be calculated on the benchmark Corpus and the excess amount in the individual corpus shall be credited to the designated bank account of the UPS Subscriber." 

• "any other contribution defined by the Central Government".

Pool Corpus = 8.5% of Basic + DA. Shall be contributed fully by Central Government. 

This fund shall be used to keep the pension arising out of UPS, an assured pension.

3. What is Benchmark Corpus in UPS

• For each employee covered under NPS, who has exercised the UPS option, a benchmark corpus value shall be computed by CRA for comparison with individual corpus 

• It is the Corpus value accrued through a 'default pattern' of investment as defined by Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).  

• This will help government to know, if an individual would have continued with government approved default scheme of investment, how much corpus would have accumulated. 

• If extra amount gets generated die to non-default scheme of investment, that will be refunded back to the individual on retirement. 

• Individual corpus, even if it is more than Benchmark corpus shall be refunded back. So IC can't become more than BC but can be equal or lesser than BC.
  

4. Can UPS subscriber withdraw accumulated corpus  at superannuation? 

Yes

"UPS Subscriber .........., shall also have an option to withdraw an amount not exceeding sixty percent, of the individual corpus or benchmark corpus, whichever is lower, available in the PRAN tagged to UPS as on the date of superannuation..."

5. Is there any UPS Calculator to calculate Pension, lump sum amount?

Yes. Please visit the link here.

Reference

1. Gazette notification dated 25.01.2025

2. Gazette notification dated 19.03.2025