How to Unfreeze NPS Account: Activate your Inactive Account

Facing trouble logging into your NPS account?

If yes, then most likely, your account is frozen, and there are reasons for that. However, refrain from fretting at this point as there are ways to unfreeze an NPS account.

Continue reading to know more about your NPS account status freeze, how to unfreeze your NPS account online and offline, and other related facts.

Being an NPS account holder, if you get an error message stating that you are not eligible for making subsequent contributions, you can be certain that your account’s status is inactive or frozen at the moment.

An NPS subscriber is alerted via an email or SMS 1 month prior to the freezing of an NPS account and also on the account freezing. You may be intimated over email from PFRDA notifying that the status of your NPS account has changed to ‘Frozen.’

For cases where an intimation hasn’t been received yet, it is most likely that an email is on the way to the account holder.

The first thing which probably every NPS subscriber wonders about after knowing that their NPS account is frozen is the reasons for the same. This section would let you know about every reason responsible for freezing an NPS account.

According to guidelines laid down by the PFRDA or Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, it is mandatory for all NPS subscribers to contribute a minimum yearly amount in their accounts. For cases where subscribers fail to process a minimum contribution from their end, the account is frozen, implying that further transactions won’t be allowed in the account.

The norms for minimum contributions to be processed by subscribers are different for Tier I and Tier II account holders. Illustrated below are minimum contributions for both these accounts:

Minimum Contribution: Tier I Accounts

An account holder must make a minimum of 1 contribution in every financial year. The minimum contribution amount is ₹500. However, one must note that this requirement is not applicable to corporate or government subscribers. To avoid an account from freezing, a minimum contribution of ₹1000 (previously ₹6000) must be made in every financial year.

Minimum Contribution: Tier II Accounts

Tier II accounts are voluntary contribution accounts. For Tier II accounts, a minimum contribution is not required. It must be noted here that if a Tier I account for a PRAN (Permanent Retirement Account Number) is frozen, the status of the Tier II account is also kept as ‘Freeze.’

There can be other reasons that imply that a user is inactive in NPS, meaning that their account is frozen. These include:

• KYC verification pending
• Non-submission of physical form to POP  or CRA
• KYC documents pending

Wondering how to activate an inactive NPS account?

There are several ways for that.

The ways of unfreezing an NPS account depends on the reason because of which it got frozen in the first place. Illustrated below are those ways:

Unfreeze NPS Account Online by Making Minimum Contribution

NPS subscribers looking for ways as to how to unfreeze their NPS account online can log in to their accounts or open the mobile application to make a minimum contribution of ₹1000 to the National Pension Scheme for instantly unfreezing their account online.

Unfreeze NPS Account Offline through Bank or Point of Presence

Besides the route for online NPS unfreeze, there is also an offline way which is illustrated as follows:

1. To Make a Contribution Offline

If an individual has opened an NPS account through a PoP or bank, then one needs to make a visit to the office of a PoP-SP or Point of Presence Service Provider because, for an NPS subscriber, they are the first authorised point of contact. A PoP-SP refers to authorised branches of a PoP.

These branches act as collection points and generally handle every request related to an NPS account, which includes withdrawals. If a subscriber wants to locate the nearest PoP-SP, then he or she can go to the NSDL website.

Next, to reactivate an NPS account, one needs to make a minimum contribution through the PoP-SP. In order to do that, one needs to fill out an NPS Contribution Instruction Slip (NCIS) that includes payment details like Permanent Retirement Account Number (PRAN), etc. The form for the same can be downloaded from the NSDL website.

An offline contribution can also be processed through a cheque or demand draft (DD), which must be drawn in favour of “PoP (Name of the PoP) Collection Account – NPS Trust” along with crossed account payee. This would get deposited into a subscriber’s account against the mentioned PRAN in the NPS Contribution Instruction Slip.

2. For Cases where an NPS Account is Frozen because of KYC Rejection

If someone’s NPS account is frozen because of the rejection of the KYC by the bank, then one must follow the below-mentioned steps to unfreeze this account:

• Obtain a printout of the registration form, put a signature and affix a photo to it.
• For the purpose of verification, approach the PoP as the address details, identity details, and PAN details need to be verified at the Point of Presence.
• Ensure to get the details at every place in the registration form stamped and authorised by the Point of Presence. The Employee ID of the PoP official should also be mentioned.
• After verification, one needs to send the form to the Point of Presence.

After details are updated in the CRA system, PRAN would be activated, allowing further contribution under the National Pension Scheme. You would receive a notification for the same on the registered email ID.

This is probably the simplest way when it comes to unfreezing an NPS account. For this, a subscriber first needs to go online to the eNPS portal. Then, by clicking on the button made for “Contribution” on the portal's home page, one needs to make the mandatory contribution of ₹500. 

After filling in details like date of birth and PRAN, a subscriber would be allowed to contribute on the next page. After a minimum contribution of ₹500 is made, the CRA would send an email to the subscriber, and after that, further contributions to the NPS account can be made.

Wondering as to how to unfreeze an NPS Tier I account or unfreeze NPS Tier II account?

In the offline route, simply check in the boxes dedicated as “Tier I,” “Tier II,” and “Both (Tier I and Tier II)” accounts in the form Annexure UOS-S10-A, which is the specified form for unfreezing PRAN.

After going through this article, you should be aware of how to unfreeze an NPS account. So if you have a frozen account, go ahead and choose a way to unfreeze it at the earliest.