The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) on December 02, 2025, issued amendment to Master Circular - Guidelines on Know Your Customer/Anti Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (KYC/AML/CFT).
The following amendments have been stated:
• Para 8.2 regarding Modes of KYC, a para may be inserted as under:
8.2.1.5 (a) In case of digital onboarding for the NRI/OCI subscribers, the requirement of capturing a live photograph of the subscribers, a digital copy of an officially valid document (OVD) and geo-coordinates of the captured location, all recorded electronically by an authorized official shall be applicable. For this purpose, the requirement of physical location of subscriber being in India, during digital onboarding, shall be relaxed for KYC for the subscriber.
8.2.1.5 (b) The Points of Presence (PoPs) shall ensure that the GPS location (latitude and longitude) captured by the intermediary matches with the latitude and longitude of country given in Proof of Address of the subscriber and it shall also prevent connections from spoofed IP address.
The digital onboarding application shall incorporate liveness detection, randomness checks, and anti-spoofing/anti–deep fake measures, ensuring that the interaction is live, tamper-proof and not pre-recorded.
• Para 8.3 regarding ‘Officially Valid Documents (OVDs)’, a para may be inserted as under:
Para 8.3 (a): Admissible digital copy of Officially Valid Document (OVD) for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) and Overseas Citizen of India REs, at the time of onboarding the subscriber into NPS, shall identify their subscriber, verify their identity and obtain information for the purpose Customer Due Diligence (CDD). The name as mentioned in the application/KYC form shall match the name as mentioned in the Proof of Identity (PoI) submitted by subscriber. The following documents shall be admissible as Proof of Identity (PoI) and Proof of Address (PoA) for opening of NPS tier I accounts.
• New provision may be inserted as under:
10. 8.4.3 (a) Contributions, Remittances & FEMA Compliance for NRI and OCI subscribers (i) The contribution amounts shall be paid by the NRIs and OCIs either by inward remittance through normal banking channels or out of funds held in their own NRE/FCNR/NRO accounts.
(ii) At the time of withdrawal/exit, the proceeds of NPS shall be credited to NRO/NRE account of the NRI/OCI subscriber and repatriation will be as per applicable FEMA guidelines.
(iii) Once the NRI Status of the subscriber changes to Resident status, the subscriber will inform the same to CRA/PoP for updating the same in CRA system within 3 months from such change
11. Further, various other provisions stated in the aforesaid Master Circular on KYC/AML/CFT as applicable in the case of NRIs/OCIs shall continue to be in effect.
12. Where the sectoral regulator of a Regulated Entity prescribes KYC/AML requirements that are more recent or comprehensive than those specified herein, the Regulated Entity may comply with such updated requirements.
[Circular No. PFRDA/2025/22/REG-POP/04]
