Old-age pensions in India

India combines a public pension with compulsory funded accounts. For people with little or no record there is a social or means-tested pension.

Updated October 2026. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.

Read this first. This guide gives the general structure of each country's old-age pension from our own knowledge: it is not checked line by line, and it deliberately leaves out amounts and retirement ages, which change often. Use the country's pension authority for current figures and for your own case. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.

How the pension is built

Public plus funded

A mix of a public pension and mandatory funded accounts.

The safety net in old age

Social or means-tested pension

A means-tested or social pension for people with little or no record.

The main programs

Employees' Provident Fund (EPF) and Employees' Pension Scheme (EPS) for formal workers; National Pension System; social pension for poor older people (NSAP).

Most workers are in the informal economy and have no work-based pension; the national social pension for older people in poverty is small.

For today’s amounts and retirement age

Amounts and ages change, so ask the pension authority itself: Employees' Provident Fund Organisation.

Good to know

A 'minimum pension' means different things. It can be a guaranteed floor for people who contributed, a means-tested top-up, or a social pension for people who never did. The same word covers all three, so look at who qualifies and how it is tested.
Retirement ages are moving. Many countries are raising the age at which you can claim, in steps over years, and some pay men and women at different ages. We leave the numbers to each country's own authority so they are never out of date.
Amounts change every year. Pensions are usually adjusted yearly for prices or wages. Look up the current amount on the pension authority's site rather than in an article or table.
Moving countries. If you have worked in more than one country, treaties and, within the EU, the coordination rules can combine your insured years. Ask each pension authority, and keep proof of every period you worked.
Check what counts for you. Years of residence, years of contributions, caring years and earlier retirement for some jobs all change the result. The pension authority can give you a forecast for your own record.

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Sources

TheLawToKnow Tools’s old-age pensions guide is an educational overview of general structure. It is not legal or financial advice. Report a mistake.