Renounced Indian citizenship? Know the National Pension System (NPS) account settlement process

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) recently released a circular explaining the process for settlement of corpus and closure of National Pension System (NPS) account of subscribers who have renounced Indian citizenship and do not hold an OCI card.

An NPS account can be opened by any Indian citizen between the ages of 18-70 years. The account can also be opened by a Non-Resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) subject to fulfillment of certain conditions as stipulated under relevant circulars and guidelines issued by PFRDA from time to time.

However, the NPS account cannot be held by subscribers who have renounced their Indian citizenship and do not hold an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card. They are required to communicate the change in their citizenship status to the National Pension System Trust, following which the amount in their NPS account can be transferred to Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) accounts.

"...in respect of such subscribers who have validly renounced their Indian citizenship and do not hold an OCI card, the said subscriber is required to forthwith intimate National Pension System Trust (NPS Trust) of the change in status along-with proof thereof and PRAN/NPS account held by the subscriber shall be closed and the entire accumulated pension wealth may be transferred to Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) account only...," PFRDA said in the circular dated April 21, 2025.

As per the circular, the process of settlement in such cases would be as follows:

a) The subscriber shall submit an application for closure of his/her NPS account along with the following additional documents to NPS Trust.

i. An Undertaking stating that s/he has renounced his/her Indian citizenship and does not hold an OCI card.

ii. Valid certificate of Renunciation of India Citizenship/ Surrender Certificate)/ Cancelled Indian Passport, issued by the competent authority.

b) The total accumulated pension wealth of the subscriber in the PRAN shall be transferred only to the NRO account of the subscriber, per the FEMA guidelines issued by the RBI.

c) The NPS Trust, in coordination with CRAs, shall process the requests received from such subscribers.