“You will see the recommendations getting implemented within next 15 to 30 days. Anybody meeting the criteria set by us would be free to quote fees and go to the customer telling him/her that this is my track record, this is the kind of returns I can give, and this is the fee structure, etc,” said PFRDA, chairman, Yogesh Agarwal.

Despite being in the market for more than two and half years, NPS did not take off as was anticipated when it was launched in May, 2009. It has 26 lakh subscribers with a small number of non-government participation.

“PFRDA did the fundamental mistake of putting the cart before the horse. We went in for a voluntary scheme in the non-government sector without taking into account the marketing and distribution related issues,” said Agarwal.

“With virtually zero fee how would any corporate manage a fund. The current pension fund managers do not want to do the business at such a low fee,” added Agarwal. The current fund management charge is 0.0009 per cent — the lowest compared to other financial products.

“We would soon come out with the marketing and media campaign for NPS,” said Agarwal.

However, D Swarup, former chairman, PFRDA says, “Government and regulatory function is to create an enabling environment and not to market a product like commercial companies do”.