The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), on June 02, 2026, issued a framework for establishing a Regulatory Sandbox to facilitate responsible innovation in the pension sector. The initiative has been introduced under Section 14 of the PFRDA Act, 2013, with the objective of encouraging innovative products, services, and delivery mechanisms while safeguarding subscriber interests and ensuring the orderly development of the pension ecosystem.
The Regulatory Sandbox will provide a controlled and time-bound testing environment where eligible entities can experiment with new pension-related solutions before wider deployment. The framework is designed to balance innovation with regulatory oversight, enabling market participants to assess the viability, benefits, and risks of innovative offerings in a monitored setting.
The detailed operational provisions of the Sandbox are contained in Annexure I to the circular. The framework comes into effect immediately and supersedes any earlier instructions to the extent of inconsistency, thereby creating a structured pathway for innovation and technological advancement in the pension sector.
[Circular No. PFRDA/2026/31/REG-CRA/02]
