How to unfreeze your NPS account?

Ramesh, 38, thought he was being smart with his taxes back in 2021. He contributed Rs 50,000 to the National Pension System (NPS) to claim the additional deduction under Section 80CCD(1B). It was a tidy move that helped him reduce his tax outgo for that year. But the next year, like many others, Ramesh shifted to the new tax regime. Since this newer regime doesn't allow the extra deduction, he stopped contributing altogether. The NPS account quietly gathered digital dust - until this April, when he decided to check his retirement savings and saw something unexpected: his account had been frozen. When your NPS account freezes If you don't contribute at least Rs 1,000 in a financial year, your NPS account is marked as inactive or frozen. What does that mean? You lose access to the most basic features - no new contributions, no changes to your fund manager or inve

This article was originally published on April 25, 2025.