Key Details
CAG Report No. 15 of 2026 examines PFRDA, four statutory pension organisations, six pension systems managed by public-sector or autonomous bodies, and four government schemes, assessing their governance, fund management and subscriber protection between April 2017 and March 2024.
Audit Area | What CAG Found | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
Regulatory structure | No institution has consolidated data on subscribers, assets or pension funds across the sector | Fragmented information limits system-wide oversight |
Pension governance | PFRDA regulates NPS while appointing the NPS Trust’s CEO, trustees and intermediaries | Raises questions about separation of regulatory and operational functions |
Subscriber accounts | CMPFO held ₹12,130.91 crore in suspense accounts; contributions of 28,000+ SPFO subscribers remained unposted | Uncredited funds can delay benefits and deprive subscribers of interest |
Unorganised-worker schemes | PMSYM reached 44.92 lakh subscribers against a 10-crore target; PMKMY reached 19.49 lakh against five crore | Coverage remains far below programme ambitions |
Grievances | 41% of sampled EPFO grievances exceeded the seven-day timeline; other systems had weak escalation mechanisms | Delays can obstruct access to contributions and benefits |
Pension Oversight Remains Fragmented
India’s pension and provident-fund system is spread across PFRDA, EPFO, sector-specific funds, public-sector employers and multiple ministries, operating under different laws and institutional arrangements.
The fragmentation extends to information: no ministry or organisation could provide consolidated figures for subscribers, assets under management or pension and provident funds across the sector.
CAG consequently recommends examining whether a single pension regulator could provide more consistent investment rules, subscriber protection and oversight.
Fund Management Weaknesses Create Long-Term Risks
The audit identified investment-limit breaches by some NPS pension fund managers and weaknesses in investment policies elsewhere. It also found:
earlier EPFO actuarial valuations did not account for liabilities arising from the ₹1,000 minimum monthly pension;
CMPFO’s pension fund faced an actuarial deficit as contributors declined relative to pensioners;
PMSYM and PMKMY had operated for five years without actuarial valuation; and
the Minimum Assured Return Scheme envisaged under the PFRDA Act had not been implemented.
What Is Actuarial Valuation? It assesses whether a pension fund’s assets and expected contributions are sufficient to meet its long-term payment obligations.
Subscriber Records Show Operational Weaknesses
The most direct risks to individual subscribers arise from incomplete account records. CMPFO held ₹12,130.91 crore in suspense accounts, while contributions for more than 28,000 SPFO subscribers remained unposted.
Grievance systems also showed delays. At EPFO, 41% of grievances examined exceeded the prescribed seven-day period, while several other organisations lacked effective escalation mechanisms.
These are not merely administrative deficiencies: incorrect or unresolved records can affect interest credit, benefit calculation and access to retirement savings.
Overlapping Schemes Have Not Delivered Intended Coverage
APY, PMSYM and PMKMY cover partly overlapping groups aged 18–40 but operate through different institutions and investment arrangements.
Coverage and persistence remain concerns. By March 2024, only around 51% of APY accounts opened continued in the scheme, while PMSYM and PMKMY remained well below their enrolment targets. The audit also found duplicate and ineligible enrolments, partly linked to the earlier absence of a common primary identifier.
CAG recommends greater convergence among the three schemes to improve targeting, reduce duplication and strengthen financial oversight.
Policy Relevance
Build a consolidated pension database to measure coverage, identify duplication and assess retirement protection across occupations.
Strengthen regulatory independence by separating rule-making, intermediary selection and supervision.
Treat unposted contributions and suspense balances as subscriber-protection failures, not simply accounting irregularities.
Require regular actuarial valuation of fixed-benefit schemes to identify emerging funding gaps.
Pursue scheme convergence while preserving occupational access and improving enrolment, portability and grievance resolution.
Follow the Full CAG Report Here: Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India on Key Entities and Schemes in Pension Sector Union Government Department of Financial Services Report No. 15 of 2026 (Performance Audit - Civil)